


my little loves // parrlyn

by bibbawrites



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Beheaded Cousins, Breastfeeding, Cathy and Catalina don't know each other, F/F, Found Family, Jane isn't related to Anne and Kitty, Parrelyn, Parrleyn - Freeform, Sexual References, Single Mums, Swearing, Tagged Anna twice cause not sure if the tag is Anna or Anne, and they were ROOMMATES, but its there, not sure if i have to warn against that or not, parrlyn, warnings in each chapter, why can't we settle on a ship name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25746547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibbawrites/pseuds/bibbawrites
Summary: Single mum Cathy decides to go to university despite the fact that she has a two month old. She moves into shared accommodation with five other girls, and three of their children.Chaos and romance ensue
Relationships: Anna of Cleves/Katherine Howard (implied), Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Every Queen & Every Queen
Comments: 121
Kudos: 238





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS - breastfeeding (do i have to warn against that?), sexual references? 
> 
> Hi hi hi!  
> So recently I was inspired by a few amazing fics on here and I decided to delve into the world of six fanfics myself!  
> I have a few chapters pre-written so I'll try to post regularly, maybe a couple of times a week? This one is mainly just an introduction chapter, more will happen in the next few so bear with me :) 
> 
> Ages in this:  
> Catalina - 28  
> Jane - 26  
> Anne - 23  
> Cathy - 23  
> Anna - 21  
> Kat - 19  
> Mary - 12  
> Lizzie - 3  
> Edward - 6 months  
> Mae - 2 months 
> 
> Hope you like it, make sure to leave a comment if you want to read more :)  
> Enjoy!

Cathy took a deep breath and shifted the weight of the carrier holding baby Mae to her other arm, before knocking on the door. 

This was it. 

The place that she would potentially be living for the next four years while she completed her writing degree. 

The university had been amazing with placing her and Mae into a house with roommates who also had children. Or at least three of them did. The other two she didn’t quite know how they had ended up in this house.

The door opened to reveal a young girl who looked to be around twelve years old. 

“Hello, are you Catherine?” She asked. Cathy nodded.

“Yes I am.” She answered. The young girl smiled and moved back to welcome Cathy in. 

“Come in.” Cathy stepped through the door cautiously. 

“I’m Mary.” The girl told her. Cathy smiled. 

“Just like my baby. Only I call her Mae.” She said, and Mary smiled. 

“Was that the door dear?” A voice came, and a blonde woman walked into the room, a smile appearing on her face when she saw Cathy and Mae. 

“Oh hello, you must be Catherine! I’m Jane, it’s lovely to meet you!” Cathy smiled.  
“You too Jane, and please, call me Cathy.” Jane nodded. 

“That will be helpful. Believe it or not there’s three different Catherine’s living here.” She told Cathy, who’s eyes widened a little. Jane chuckled slightly. 

“Yeah that was my reaction too. Come on I’ll introduce you to everyone and then show you to your room.”

Jane led her into a small hallway and through a door into the kitchen. There, sat around a table, were four other women. 

“Ladies, this is Cathy. The final roomie.” Jane introduced. 

“The final Catherine.” A woman with a pixie cut and a foreign accent joked, before standing up. 

“Hi, I’m Anna.” 

“I’m Catherine, but you can call me Catalina, that’s my Spanish name, and it’s easier to distinguish with three Catherine’s.” The next woman spoke, Mary sitting down next to her. “And you met my daughter Mary already.” 

Cathy smiled in acknowledgement, her eyes flicking to a young woman with long hair, the ends of which were dyed a vibrant pink. 

“I’m also a Katherine, but with a K.” She giggled. “But I go by Kat, or Kitty, either one is fine.” 

“And you saved the best til last, I’m Anne.” the final woman spoke and Cathy’s eyes widened slightly. Anne was by far the most beautiful woman that she had seen in her entire life. Her pale skin was flawless, and her dark hair cascaded around her shoulders, making her look like she had just come in from a modeling shoot. Cathy swallowed, trying to ignore the thoughts filling her head. 

“It’s lovely to meet you all.” She said, praying that she hadn’t made it completely obvious that she had been checking Anne out. No one seemed to question anything so she figured she was in the clear. 

“And who is this little one?” Anna questioned, peering into Mae’s carrier. 

“This is Mae. She’s ten weeks old.” Cathy introduced.

Anne whistled. 

“Damn you had a baby ten weeks ago and you already look this fit?” Her eyes raked Cathy’s body, and Cathy could feel her cheeks heating up slightly. 

“Oh pipe down Anne.” Catalina chastised. “Let poor Cathy settle in before you try to hit on her.”  
“Speaking of, I’ll show you to your room. Do you have any bags that need bringing in?” Jane questioned. Cathy nodded. 

“They’re in the back of my car.” She told the blonde woman. 

“Anne, Anna, can you go get Cathy’s bags please?” Jane instructed, and Cathy handed her keys to Anna. The two of them bounded out of the room and Jane smiled at Cathy. 

“Shall we?” 

Cathy and Mae’s room was on the second floor at the end of yet another hallway, right across from the bathroom and at the bottom of a set of stairs that led to what Cathy assumed was the attic. 

“So this is my room down here.” Jane pointed to a door. “I share with my son Edward, he’s six months old. Then Catalina next door to me, and Mary on the other side of her, next to the bathroom. Across from me is Kitty, then Anna is next to you. And then Anne and her daughter Lizzie upstairs in the attic bedroom.” Cathy’s eyes widened slightly. 

“Anne is a mother?” She found herself asking. Jane laughed as she pushed open the door to Cathy’s room. 

“Yeah she is. And a brilliant one at that. Lizzie is one of the smartest three year olds I’ve ever met, and I’m studying childcare, so I’ve met my fair share of kids.” She told Cathy. 

“I feel like I need a handbook to know who’s who around here.” Cathy half joked. 

“Don’t worry babes, you’ll pick it up soon enough.” Anne’s voice came from behind them, and Cathy turned to see both Anne and Anna standing there with hers and Mae’s bags. 

“And if you don’t…” Anne continued, moving closer. “I’m only upstairs and I’m more than happy to explain everyone’s life stories to you whenever you want.” She winked. 

“Anne‘s only been here for three days and she already knows more about me than most of my friends back in Germany.” Anna joked, placing Cathy’s worn, blue suitcase on her bed. 

“Okay ladies let’s give Cathy and Mae some space to unpack.” Jane said, shepherding Anne and Anna out of the room and closing the door behind them. 

Cathy let out a deep breath, before unclasping Mae from her carrier and lifting the small baby out. She glanced around the room. It was a decent size, with a double bed, a desk pressed up against the wall and a large bookshelf the only furniture around the room. The walls were painted a deep blue colour.

“This is it Mae. Our new life.” She whispered to the baby, who reached up and grabbed a fistful of her mother’s shirt. Cathy smiled at her. 

“Hungry huh?” She asked. Mae opened her mouth in response. Cathy giggled slightly, before getting comfortable on the bed and pulling down the side of her top to allow Mae to latch on to her breast. She watched quietly, stroking Mae’s soft head of curls as the baby drank. 

“You know, it’s been two months and I still can’t believe that I could make anything as perfect as you my darling.” Cathy whispered softly, staring at Mae in awe. When she had found out that she was pregnant Cathy was over the moon with excitement. She had always wanted to be a mum and the idea that in only a few short months that would come true was one of the greatest moments of her life. 

Her parents weren’t as excited, telling her that a child would ruin her life and that she would never amount to anything as a single mother. Which was part of the reason why Cathy had moved away to attend university. She was going to prove to her parents that she could be an amazing mother to Mae while still getting an education if it was the last thing she did. 

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of her door opening.

“Hey Cathy,” Kat’s voice came and Cathy looked up in response as the young girl bounced into the room, stopping with wide eyes when she noticed Mae feeding.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry.” Kat blushed. Cathy shook her head. 

“Kat it’s fine, it’s a natural thing, you can come in.” She reassured, and Kat looked up slowly. “What’s up?”

“Jane sent me up to find out if you’re hungry. She said if you are, we can order pizza or Indian or something, whatever you want.” Kat told her. Cathy paused, thinking. 

“I am actually kinda hungry.” She admitted. “Tell her I’m good with anything.” Kat grinned and nodded and turned to leave the room before pausing. 

“I really am sorry about just barging in.” She repeated. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, okay?” Cathy smiled gently and Kat returned the smile. “I’ll come down as soon as this little one is done.” 

Kat grinned again and left the room. Cathy glanced down at Mae, finding the baby falling asleep slowly. 

“I think we’re done.” Cathy whispered, pulling her shirt back up and moving the baby to burp her.  
She was done with that quickly, and glanced around the room again. Mae’s bassinet hadn’t been set up yet, she noted, so she opted to swaddle the two month old and take her back downstairs. 

Unpacking could wait until later. 

Cathy reached the kitchen, finding it emptier than before. Catalina, Anna and Jane had disappeared, leaving Anne and Kat at the table, now joined by a small redheaded girl who Cathy assumed was Anne’s daughter Lizzie. 

“Welcome back.” Anne grinned when she saw Cathy and Mae. “Jane and Catalina went to get pizza.” 

“Come sit.” Kat gestured to the chair across from her, and Cathy sat down, rocking Mae in her arms gently.

“Did you unpack that quickly?” Anne questioned. Cathy shook her head. 

“I had to feed Mae, and then Kat came and asked about food so as soon as Mae was done we came back down.” She explained. Anne nodded. 

“Oh that reminds me. This is my daughter, Lizzie. Lizzie, this is Cathy and that’s baby Mae. They’re gonna live here too.” Anne introduced. 

“Hi Lizzie.” Cathy smiled gently. Lizzie grinned back, before turning her attention to Anne. 

“Mama, I see baby?” She asked. Anne glanced at Cathy. 

“You’ll have to ask Cathy that.” She told her. Lizzie smiled at Cathy. 

“I see baby please?” She asked. 

“Lovely manners.” Anne praised. Cathy nodded, and Lizzie jumped off her chair and peered at Mae curiously.

“Aw this is so sweet, I want a baby.” Kat cooed. Anne glared at her.

“Absolutely not. Not until you’re 40.” Kat rolled her eyes.

“You sound just like my parents.” She looked at Cathy.

“Anne is my cousin. Which is the reason why I’m living here. We requested to be put together, and because Anne was already going to be in the single mothers group I get to live here too.” Kat explained as Lizzie climbed up onto her mother’s lap. 

“I can’t say I wasn’t curious as to how you and Anna ended up in the house with no kids.” Cathy responded. 

“I’m here because I applied too late for accommodation and the only spot left was in this house.” Anna said, entering the room. Cathy laughed as Anna sat down at the table. 

“So tell us about yourself Cathy. What are you studying? How old are you?” Anna questioned. 

“What’s your favourite food?” Kat added. 

“Are you sexually attracted to women?” Anne chimed in. Cathy blushed, Kat rolled her eyes at her cousin’s straightforwardness.

“I’m studying writing, I’m 23, my favourite food is lasagne, and yes I am.” She answered their questions. 

“Oh cool, you’re the same age as Anne.” Kat grinned. Anne smirked. 

“And I am also sexually attracted to women.” She winked and Cathy felt herself blush even more. 

“Jesus Anne, calm your thirst down.” Anna shook her head. “Poor Cathy’s gonna move out before the semester has even started at this rate.” 

“Anyways…” Cathy started, changing the topic. “What about you guys, what are you studying?” 

“Sports Management.” Anna answered. 

“Art.” Anne spoke next. 

“And I’m studying Dance.” Kat finished. Cathy nodded in acknowledgement. 

“I know Jane is studying Childcare, but what about Catalina?” She asked. 

“Religious Studies or something like that. But don’t ask her about it unless you want a four hour explanation about what she’s doing and what she hopes to get from the degree.” Anna shuddered. 

“We made that mistake on night one.” Anne giggled. 

“How long have you guys been here?” Cathy questioned, rocking Mae slightly when the baby stirred in her arms. 

“Catalina arrived on Sunday and she was the first here. Oh and Mary of course. Then Jane and Edward on Monday.” Kat started. 

“And then I arrived Tuesday morning.” Anna interjected. 

“And Kat, Lizzie and I arrived Tuesday night.” Anne finished. Cathy nodded, feeling slightly awkward. The other 5 girls had been together for several days before she had arrived, they had probably formed friendships and inside jokes and knew things about each other from that time together. She felt like an intruder on their lives. 

As if she could tell what Cathy was thinking, Anne rubbed Cathy’s arm gently. 

“But now you and Mae are here and our family is finally complete.” She grinned, and Cathy found herself grinning back. 

“Thanks for the help.” Catalina’s voice came from behind them and they all turned to look at the older woman, who had 6 large pizza boxes stacked in her hands. 

“You look like you’ve got it under control.” Anna laughed. Catalina glared at her as she put the stack of boxes on the table. Jane followed her into the room, a bag in one hand and baby Edward tucked safely into her arms. 

“Help still would have been nice.” Catalina responded, moving the boxes so they covered the table. “Mary, pizza is here!” She called up the stairs and Mary appeared a few seconds later. 

“Alright everyone.” Jane said once everyone was seated around the table. 

“Dig in.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy gets to spend a bit more time with a certain dark haired girl, and the whole family have a fun day at the park

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: swearing, mention of breastfeeding (still not sure if i have to put a warning for that or not but i will)
> 
> this chapter has one of my favourite scenes in it (the park scene) so i really hope you all like it 
> 
> let me know what you think :) enjoy!

Later that evening Cathy found herself alone for the first time since arriving at the house. Well, alone with Mae, but the two month old was sleeping in the bassinet that Anna had helped assemble earlier, so Cathy had decided to unpack their bags. 

She unzipped the suitcase containing Mae’s belongings and sat it on the bed, lifting the clothes out and folding them into a pile to place in a drawer, humming as she folded. She worked like this for a few minutes before she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. 

“Come in.” She called quietly, not wanting to wake Mae, and the door opened to reveal Anne. 

“Thought you could use some company.” She grinned, entering the room and flopping onto the bed, ruining the pile of clothes that Cathy had just folded. 

“Do you have Snapchat?” Anne questioned, ignoring the fact that she had ruined Cathy’s neat pile of baby clothes. 

“No, why?” The younger girl replied, reaching for the pile of clothes to fold them again. 

Anne grabbed Cathy’s phone from its place on her bedside table. 

“Passcode?” She asked. 

“3008. Mae’s birthday.” Cathy told her, questioning herself internally as to why she was giving out details like her passcode to someone she had only met that day.

Anne unlocked the phone and opened up the app store, downloading Snapchat quickly. 

“What are you doing?” Cathy questioned, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Clearly she wasn’t going to be getting much done with Anne around. 

“Making you a Snapchat?” Anne responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But why?” Cathy asked. 

“So I can snapchat you from upstairs?” Anne gave her a look. 

“You could text me.” Cathy responded. Anne shook her head.

“You can’t use fun filters on a text.” She held the phone out to Cathy. “Put your details in.”

Cathy took the phone from her and entered the required details. 

“There.” She said after a minute, handing the phone back to Anne. 

“GoldStarParr. Cute.” Anne read her username out. Cathy nodded. 

“Gold star for Cathy Parr.” She joked. Anne grinned, before focusing her attention on Cathy’s phone, and the latter took that as an opportunity to get a closer look at Anne. Her skin was quite literally flawless, and her dark hair was piled onto her head in a messy bun instead of the two smaller space buns it had been in earlier, and her bright green eyes sparkled as she concentrated on the phone screen. Anne glanced up, smiling when she saw that Cathy was checking her out. 

“Like what you see?” She asked cheekily, and Cathy turned bright red. Anne grinned at her, holding the phone out. 

“Only teasing.” She said, as Cathy took the phone back from her. “I added myself and the other girls, and when I get to my phone I’ll add you to our group chat.”

Cathy glanced at her phone. 

“ThatBoleynBitch. Cute.” She mimicked Anne’s words from before, and Anne laughed. 

“Touché Parr.” Anne stood up from the bed. “I’ll let you get back to unpacking. Night Cathy, sleep well.” She left the room, shutting the door behind her. Cathy stared at the shut door, sighing slightly when she noticed her heart racing. 

“Shit.” She whispered. “I’m so screwed.”

Cathy was awoken in the middle of the night by Mae crying out. She glanced at the time. It was just after four in the morning. 

“Shh my darling.” Cathy spoke, climbing out of bed and lifting the baby out of her bassinet. “It’s okay, mama’s got you.” 

“Are you hungry baby?” She asked Mae, sitting down on the edge of the bed and offering the baby her breast. Mae turned her head away and continued crying. Cathy pulled her pyjama shirt back up and quickly checked Mae’s nappy, frowning when it was clean. 

“It’s okay Mae-Mae.” Cathy stood back up and began rocking backwards and forwards, trying to soothe the baby, but with no success. 

“How about I sing you a song? How does that sound?” Cathy began to hum, a song that her mother had sung to her as a baby, and paced around the room, rocking Mae gently. When that still didn’t work Cathy sighed, trying to fight back tears of frustration and helplessness. 

“How about some skin to skin time?” She decided, climbing back onto the bed and undressing Mae from her pyjamas, leaving her in just a nappy, and pulling her own pyjama shirt off leaving her top half bare. She laid back against the headboard of the bed, placing Mae onto her chest and covering the two of them with a blanket, humming quietly as she rubbed Mae’s back. 

And finally, after what felt like hours, Mae finally fell asleep again. Cathy laid her back into her bassinet after redressing the both of them, and kissed her head gently. 

“Goodnight my darling, I love you.” She whispered, before climbing back into her bed and falling asleep practically straight away. 

After what felt like no time Cathy’s alarm was going off quietly, signifying that it was already 9:30 a.m. She turned it off, getting dressed quickly and flicking the baby monitor on so that Mae could sleep. She grabbed the handset for the monitor and headed downstairs, entering the kitchen very clearly exhausted. 

“Coffee?” Jane asked as Cathy slumped into a chair at the table. The younger girl nodded. 

“How is Mae this morning?” Anna asked, her mouth full of toast. 

“Still sleeping, which is good. I’m really sorry if she woke you guys last night.” Cathy responded, placing the baby monitor onto the table. 

“It’s fine babes, we’ve all been there.” Anne gave her a sympathetic look. 

“Well most of us.” Catalina chimed in. “I remember when Mary was a baby, there were a few months where she just cried non stop every single night. The only thing that would soothe her was strapping her into the car and taking her for a drive while listening to Elvis songs. My ex and I spent hours in the car, rotating who had to miss sleep that night, so that we could drive around the block so she didn’t scream the house down.” Mary giggled into her orange juice. 

“Imagine having a supportive baby daddy.” Anne joked. “Lizzie’s father practically fled the country when I found out I was pregnant.” 

Jane placed a mug of coffee in front of Cathy and the curly haired girl shot her an appreciative grin. The blonde sat down in the final seat. 

“Edward’s father was perfect. Or so I thought. I was almost ready to give birth when I found out he had another family and that I was his side chick. I only found out when Henry’s sister came to me and told me.” Jane added her story. 

“Wait, your ex is called Henry? Mine too.” Catalina frowned. 

“You’re not gonna believe me but my shitbag baby daddy is also named Henry.” Anne shook her head. 

“Imagine it was all the same guy.” Anna joked. They all laughed. 

“So what about you Cath? What’s your story?” Kat questioned. 

“Well Mae’s father is named Thomas, so I can’t relate to the Henry detail.” Cathy grinned. 

“Hey, my brother is called Thomas.” Jane interrupted. 

“So all of our kids have the same dickhead dad and Cathy fucked Jane’s brother?” Anne laughed.

“Anne, language.” Catalina scolded, and the younger grinned. 

“Just saying it how it is… well is according to this narrative we’re creating with our stories.” She responded. 

“But do you have to be so vulgar?” The oldest woman replied, shaking her head. 

“Sorry let me rephrase that.” Anne began, and Catalina nodded in approval. “So all of our kids have the same buttface dad and Cathy fucked Jane’s brother.” Anne grinned cheekily as Catalina sighed. 

“That’s not the word I was referring to and you know it.” She muttered. 

“Moving on.” Jane interrupted. “Cathy, you can continue now.” Cathy smiled at her. 

“Well basically, we were never really together, we knew each other through a mutual friend and one night we had a few too many drinks at a party and well…” She trailed off. “And then I found out ten weeks later that I was pregnant.” 

“What about the dad?” Kat questioned. 

“By the time I found out he was in a relationship, and I just didn’t have the heart to ruin that for him. I think our mutual friend told him but he never called so…” Cathy shrugged. “Mae has me and that’s all she needs.” 

“Exactly. Our kids might only have one parent but they’re lucky enough to have us as their mums and we are amazing.” Anne agreed. 

“And now they all have a whole house of supportive women and friends.” Jane smiled around the table. 

“Amen.” Catalina nodded. They fell into silence. 

“So, what’s the plan today?” Kat questioned. 

“Park!” Lizzie spoke up from her spot in her mother’s lap. Anne nodded in agreement. 

“Park.” She repeated. 

“Maybe we should all go and have a picnic.” Jane suggested, and everyone was quick to agree.  
A noise came from Cathy’s baby monitor and the young mother stood up quickly. 

“Duty calls.” She smiled slightly. 

“How about we leave at eleven o’clock? That’s just over an hour away, so that gives us enough time to organise everything.” Jane suggested, and Cathy nodded, before grabbing her coffee and heading back upstairs to Mae. 

It ended up being closer to midday when the group of ten made their way down their street to the park. Living on campus had its perks, especially when the university had specialised programs for single parents. The university and the neighbouring town had been built with this in mind, and a large park had been constructed, with places to eat, cook and plenty of space for the kids to run around. And of course, the greatest feature of the park was the large playground, shaped like a castle, that was situated at the centre of the large area. 

They entered the park, pleasantly surprised to find it empty. 

“Maybe it’s because the semester doesn’t start for another week.” Jane suggested as they found a spot to sit in the shade, close enough to the playground that they could watch Mary and Lizzie playing, the younger followed closely by her mother. 

Kat and Anna had brought a soccer ball along with them so the two of them moved away to kick it around so that they wouldn’t disrupt the picnic. 

Jane laid Edward down onto the picnic rug, the baby smiling when he saw the clouds above him. 

“Aw look at that happy little face.” Catalina cooed, making Edward laugh happily. Cathy smiled at the interaction, Mae held gently in her arms. Jane looked over at Cathy. 

“You can put Mae down with Eddie if you want.” She offered, and Cathy obliged, laying Mae onto the mat beside the older boy. 

“He’s so much bigger than her.” Jane laughed. “Do you mind if I take a photo? I’ve been sending my mum photos of Edward every day, she’s missing him a lot, and I’m sure she’d love a photo of him and his new friend Mae. She was obsessed with the photo I sent her the other day of him smiling at little Lizzie.” 

“No of course not.” Cathy grinned as Jane snapped the photo and quickly texted it to her mother. Catalina and Jane sparked up a conversation, but Cathy quickly tuned out and found herself watching Anne instead. 

The young mother was full of energy, climbing the playground with Lizzie and Mary and making the two girls laugh loudly with her antics. Cathy smiled slightly as she watched them. Anne glanced over and saw her watching and grinned. 

“Cathy come play!” She called, and Cathy hesitated, glancing down at Mae. 

“She’ll be fine mija, you’re only going to be a few metres away. We’ll keep an eye on her.” Catalina reassured her when she noticed Cathy’s hesitation. Cathy smiled at her before standing up and making her way over to the playground, to the cheers of Anne, Lizzie and Mary. 

“Cathy you’re the princess, okay?” Mary told her once she reached them. 

“The princess?” Cathy questioned, and Mary nodded. 

“I’m the queen, and Lizzie is a dragon and Annie is a knight, so you need to be the princess.” She explained. 

“Roar!” Lizzie grinned cheekily, grabbing onto Cathy’s leg and the curly haired woman laughed, running a hand through Lizzie’s fiery red curls. 

“Okay so what does the princess do?” She asked. Mary paused, thinking. 

“You’re in a deep sleep and you need to wait for the magic kiss from a prince to wake you up.” Cathy nodded, understanding her role. 

“Am I locked in a tower?” She asked, and Mary nodded enthusiastically. 

“The playground is the castle.” Anne told her. Cathy glanced at the playground, before quickly climbing to the top area where the slide was and sitting down. 

“Okay I’m in my tower.” She called down. 

“No talking!” Anne called back to her. “You’re meant to be sleeping.” 

Cathy shut her eyes as Mary joined her at the top of the playground. 

“Oh my sweet mija, I hope a nice prince comes to kiss you soon.” Mary whispered, stroking Cathy’s hair, and the older woman had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at how much the twelve year old sounded like Catalina in that moment. 

Down below she could hear Lizzie’s screams and Anne’s laughter as the dragon fought the knight to stop her from reaching the tower. Cathy opened one eye to watch the two of them, smiling to herself as Anne reached down and scooped up the fiery haired toddler. 

“No Mama!” Lizzie laughed as Anne carried her up the playground. 

Cathy shut her eye quickly. 

“Hello madam queen. I brought you this little dragon.” Anne put on a terrible fake accent. Mary gasped. 

“A dragon?” Oh how lovely. I have never had a dragon before. If only you were a prince then you could wake up my darling daughter. That would make this day even more magical.” Mary responded, with an equally as ridiculous accent. 

“Oh but I am a prince.” Anne said with a grin, and Mary gasped at the confession. 

“Mama knight.” Lizzie reminded her mother. 

“I’m a knight and a prince.” Anne told them and the two girls giggled. 

“Well then you must kiss my daughter.” The twelve year old instructed, and Cathy’s heart skipped a beat. Anne lent in and pressed a soft kiss to Cathy’s cheek. 

“No!” Mary shouted, and Anne pulled away quickly. 

“What is it, your highness?” She asked. Mary rolled her eyes. 

“You have to give her a proper kiss. On the lips.” She told Anne. Anne hesitated. 

“Mary, what if Cathy doesn’t want that?” Her voice was back to normal. “You have to ask permission before you kiss someone on the lips. It’s not right to kiss someone without asking first.” 

“It’s fine.” Cathy spoke up, eyes still shut. 

“See, she’s okay with it. Now wake up my princess daughter please sir prince.” Mary instructed. Anne lent in and gently pressed her lips to Cathy’s, and then as she pulled away, Cathy opened her eyes, squinting slightly at the brightness of the midday sun. 

“Ew!” Mary squealed and Lizzie mimicked her, squealing loudly. “You kissed her! That’s so gross!” 

“You told me to!” Anne responded with a laugh. 

“But now you have cooties.” Mary pulled a face. Cathy laughed. 

“No, only boys have cooties. So we are both cootie free.” She explained, and Mary accepted that as an answer, turning her attention to Lizzie. 

“Come on little dragon. I want some juice. Let’s leave these two kissers alone.” She told the toddler, who nodded enthusiastically at the proposal of juice. Mary lifted Lizzie into her lap and slid down the slide with her, the two of them rushing over to the picnic rug and animatledy telling the two women there about their game. 

Anne turned to Cathy. 

“Well that was eventful.” She grinned, and Cathy laughed. 

“Tell me about it.” She replied. Anne paused. 

“I hope this doesn’t make things awkward between us.” She said after a moment, and Cathy shook her head. 

“Of course not. It was just a game. Mary wasn’t exactly going to let you get away without kissing me.” She told her, and Anne nodded in agreement. 

Cathy moved towards the slide, pausing at the top. 

“And besides,” She said, turning back to Anne, a wave of bravery overcoming her. “I kinda enjoyed it.” 

And with that she slid down the slide, leaving Anne to process what she had just said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy finds herself getting a bit closer to anne and some feelings are realised before a late night talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, sexual references, breastfeeding
> 
> i changed this chapter quite a few times and its still not my favourite or the best (and not super long unfortunately), but i put up with it because the story is finally progressing!  
> as always, leave a comment if you liked it, and thank you for reading! 
> 
> enjoy x

Later that afternoon Cathy found herself and Anne left alone at the house with their daughters. The minute they had arrived home Lizzie had gone down for her nap, exhausted after their adventure to the park and her convincing portrayal of a dragon. 

Kat and Anna had elected to visit the campus pool after the park, and Mary had gone with them, and Jane, Catalina and Edward had gone to buy groceries. 

Cathy had ended up in the lounge room, Mae in her arms feeding, and a random movie playing on the tv for background noise. 

The door from the hallway opened, revealing Anne, who had changed into a large green hoodie with the words ‘sorry not sorry’ printed across it in silver, and long, fluffy black pants. Cathy smiled at her as the tall girl curled up on the chair across from Cathy, staring at the latter intensely as Cathy turned her attention back to Mae. 

After a moment she looked up, raising an eyebrow at the other girl. 

“Can I help you?” She asked. Anne shrugged. 

“Bored.” She said simply, her gaze never leaving Cathy. Mae wriggled slightly, her mouth detaching from Cathy’s nipple, and the curly haired girl shifted her attention to the baby, moving her slightly so that she could begin to suckle again. When the baby refused, Cathy decided to switch the side she was drinking from. She held the baby gently and with one hand pulled her top up and pulled it down on the other side to reveal her other breast. 

“Did you have fun at the park?” Cathy asked casually, as Mae latched on and began to suckle again. Anne groaned slightly. 

“I can’t have a serious conversation with you when your tit is out. Especially when I just got a full show.” She said cheekily, and Cathy blushed. 

“Shut up. You should know just as well as anyone that there is no need to sexualise breasts when they are providing for a child.” She told the dark haired girl. 

Anne stood up and walked over, sitting down onto the couch next to Cathy and leaning in. 

“I know that, trust me, I had my fair share of freaks perv on me when I was still breastfeeding Liz. I’m not trying to be like that, but you’re so hot, I just can’t help myself.” She whispered.

“So you’re not a freak then?” Cathy questioned. Anne smirked. 

“I could be if that’s what you’re into.” She replied with a wink, and Cathy’s stomach fluttered. 

“Anne...” She trailed off, and Anne raised an eyebrow, before leaning in and pressing her lips to Cathy’s neck and collar bone, leaving feather light kisses as she moved. Cathy gasped slightly at the contact. Anne had been flirty with her from the minute she had walked in the door, but Cathy had never expected this level of intimacy with someone she had just met. Normally she wouldn’t even have given someone her number in that time. But here she was, sat on a couch, feeding her baby, with an extremely attractive woman kissing her neck. Anne sat up, and brushed her hair out of her face, looking at Cathy with curious eyes. 

“You have no idea how much of an effect you’ve had on me.” Anne whispered. Cathy stared at her, her eyes locked on Anne’s bright green ones. 

“You barely know me.” Cathy replied. Anne paused, thinking. 

“True, but I really want to know you.” She spoke after a moment. Cathy subconsciously lent closer to her and Anne smiled. 

“Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” She complimented, brushing a stray curl out of Cathy’s eyes. Cathy blushed. 

“I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” She joked, and Anne laughed. 

“Trust me, I’m an artist, I know a work of art when I see one. And you, Catherine Parr, are a masterpiece.” She flirted, and Cathy’s stomach fluttered. 

“You’re so smooth.” She muttered. 

“Is it working?” Anne raised an eyebrow. Cathy paused, her heart racing, and she was vaguely aware of how close her lips were to Anne’s. 

“Yes.” She whispered, Anne’s breath hot on her lips. She lent in and her eyes shut slowly, feeling Anne’s lips brush against hers so gently that if she wasn’t so hyper-aware of the situation she might have missed it. 

The sound of the front door opening startled them, Anne jumping away from Cathy as they both turned guiltily to see who had arrived.

Jane, Edward and Catalina stood there, bags in hand and eyebrows raised at the situation they had just walked in on. 

Cathy cleared her throat, turning her attention back to Mae, who was beginning to fall asleep as she suckled, trying to look anywhere other than the women at the door and Anne, who had stood up from the couch. 

“Anne, can you help with the groceries please?” Jane asked after an awkward pause, clearly deciding that feigned ignorance was the way to go. She smiled gently at Cathy as if to assure her that there was no need for her to worry about helping, before heading to the kitchen. 

Anne groaned but obeyed, heading outside to collect the remaining bags from Jane’s car. 

“She wasn’t annoying you while you’re trying to feed little Mae, was she?” Catalina questioned, placing a bag onto the coffee table, as if she and Jane hadn’t walked in on Anne and Cathy millimetres apart, about to kiss. 

“No she’s fine, we were just talking.” Cathy assured, and Catalina nodded, but her eyes betrayed that she wasn’t convinced.

“Just checking.” She walked towards the kitchen with the other bags, leaving Cathy and Mae alone. The mother sighed.

“What am I supposed to do my darling?” She whispered. 

Mae looked up at her, big brown eyes fluttering with sleep, and Cathy smiled softly, humming a tune as the baby drifted off, the young mother’s head filled with thoughts of bright green eyes and soft pink lips. 

Later that night Cathy was reading in her bed, a forgotten movie playing softly on the tv. Her phone beeped, signifying that she had a message. She put her book down and picked it up, her stomach fluttering at the notification. Snapchat from ThatBoleynBitch. She quickly unlocked the phone and opened the message, finding a photo of Anne in her bed, her tongue poked out, with the caption “u up?”. 

Cathy rolled her eyes, snapping a photo of her tv and sending it back with the caption “what are you, a twelve year old boy?” Anne’s bitmoji appeared at the bottom of the screen, and a few seconds later a new message appeared. 

Cathy clicked the message, laughing out loud when a photo of Anne flipping her off appeared. 

She grinned to herself, quickly recording herself blowing a kiss and sending it back in response. She waited for a minute, heart racing as Anne replied. 

The message appeared and Cathy opened it straight away. Anne had used a filter that made her eyes massive, accompanied by the caption “me when I see you looking that gorgeous at 3am.” Cathy could feel her cheeks heating up and shook her head. 

Why was Anne having this effect on her? She barely knew the older girl, yet here she was blushing over her messages like a school girl. 

Cathy opened the camera, snapping a photo of herself trying to look sexy (but in reality she looked a little awkward, like she was uncomfortable in her pyjamas) and typed “who, me?” on the photo and sent it back. 

Anne’s reply came almost instantly, a photo of her biting her lip, the caption simply just “fuck” and Cathy giggled. 

She was just about to open her camera to reply when another message came through from Anne. Cathy opened it and a photo of Anne pulling a face with the caption “meet me downstairs in five minutes?”. Cathy glanced over at Mae who was sleeping soundly. She could switch on the baby monitor and take it with her, Mae would be fine sleeping on her own. 

With her mind made up Cathy took a quick photo of herself giving Anne a thumbs up, and jumped out of bed to get the baby monitor on and ready. 

A little over five minutes later Cathy entered the kitchen, baby monitor in hand, and found Anne sat at the table clad in an oversized green and black plaid shirt and leggings, and her hair in a messy bun. 

“Fancy meeting you here.” The dark haired girl grinned when she saw Cathy, the younger laughing as she sat at the end of the table, next to Anne. 

“Funny story, I was in my bed reading when I got these messages from this really cute girl and she asked me to meet her here.” Cathy explained. Anne raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance. 

“A cute girl huh? Bet the girl I’m meant to be meeting is cuter. She’s got this gorgeous head of curly hair, and beautiful caramel coloured skin, and these dark brown eyes that look like pools of melted chocolate.” She grinned and Cathy glanced away bashfully. She paused for a moment, composing herself, before replying. 

“She sounds nice but the girl I’m meeting is definitely better. Her hair is so dark it’s almost black, and it’s so silky and smooth, and she has these gorgeous red lips and beautiful green eyes that are filled with the cheekiest look constantly, and don’t even get me started on how flawless her skin is. She’s also an amazing mother and a pretty good knight prince.” Cathy described, and Anne laughed, causing Cathy to grin at the sound. 

“You’re something else Catherine Parr.” She said and Cathy smiled softly as she fiddled with the baby monitor, before remembering Anne’s words from earlier. 

“Were you serious earlier about wanting to get to know me?” She questioned, looking up and Anne nodded quickly. 

“Of course.” She replied and Cathy felt her heart skip a beat. 

“Okay then, what do you want to know?” She asked and Anne paused, thinking. 

“Everything.” She replied after a moment. Cathy rolled her eyes. 

“Obviously. But what specifically?” She questioned. 

“Favourite colour?” Anne suggested. 

“Blue. What’s yours?” Cathy replied. 

“Green. Do you have siblings?” Anne’s next question came quickly. 

“Yeah, I have a brother and a sister, both younger, but we’re not super close.” Cathy told her. Anne smiled. 

“I have a brother and a sister too. Except mine are both older.” She said. 

“What a weird coincidence. Okay my turn to ask a question.” Cathy said, and Anne gestured for her to continue. After a moment’s pause Cathy sighed. 

“Nevermind, I’ve got nothing. You can ask the questions.” She said, causing Anne to laugh loudly. 

“Okay then Miss Writer.” The older girl teased and Cathy smiled shyly. “I can’t say I’m not curious, what do you label your sexuality as?” 

When Cathy didn’t answer straight away, the dark haired girl frowned. 

“You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” She said quickly. Cathy shook her head. 

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ve just never been asked that before. I’m bisexual.” She replied and Anne smiled. 

“Sorry I probably shouldn't have been so full on with asking.” She said, making Cathy laugh. 

“Anne, I’d been here all of ten minutes yesterday and you were already asking me if I was sexually attracted to women.” The curly haired girl spoke, and Anne blushed slightly, the first time Cathy had seen anything other than confidence and flirtiness from the other girl. 

“Anyways, what about you? How do you identify?” Cathy asked. 

“I’m pansexual.” Anne replied, pausing before grinning. “Anne the Pan. Pan Anne.” 

Cathy chuckled. 

“Are you sure you’re not the writer here?” She asked, bringing a smile to Anne’s face. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few seconds.

“I’m really glad you moved in here. And that you’re willing to actually talk to me.” Anne said, breaking the silence. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Cathy smiled softly. Anne shrugged. 

“I don’t really have much luck with girls. Or with making friends for that matter. I can be a bit too much for most people. Plus, who wants to be friends with the 23 year old with a 3 year old kid?” She said, picking at her nail polish. 

“I want to be.” Cathy replied and Anne looked up, her eyes connecting with Cathy’s. 

“Why?” She asked simply. 

“You’re a complicated person Anne Boleyn. And I want to get to know every single thing.” Cathy said, and Anne smiled. 

“I try to be, Catherine Parr.” She replied. 

The two young mothers went back to bed not long after that, both falling asleep thinking of the other woman and wondering what was to come from their blossoming relationship.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy, anne and jane take a trip to the childcare center

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing   
> (i think that's all, if there's anything else let me know)
> 
> hope you enjoy this part, it's a bit of a filler but there's something good to come soon so please bare with me lol   
> as always leave a comment if you liked it, i'm running a bit low on motivation to keep writing and your comments really help that 
> 
> enjoy!

The next morning Cathy woke to a baby crying, but this time it wasn’t Mae. She sat up, looking over to Mae’s bassinet, where the two month old was laying silently, staring up at the solar system mobile that Cathy had hung above her bed. 

“Good morning my darling.” Cathy spoke and Mae smiled at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Sounds like Edward isn’t having a very nice morning.” 

Cathy flicked on her phone to find the time. Just after nine o’clock. 

“Time to get up?” Cathy asked, picking the baby up as Mae squirmed in her arms. 

After quickly changing Mae’s nappy and dressing the baby in a purple onesie, the mother and daughter headed out into the hallway. 

“Morning Cath.” Came a voice and Cathy grinned at the sight of Anna, the German girl exiting her room as well. “And Mae.”

“Good morning Anna, sleep well?” Cathy asked as the two of them and Mae began their journey to the kitchen. 

“Pretty good. My bed isn’t as comfy as my one back home so it’s gonna take a little getting used to, but other than that it was good. I didn’t realise how exhausted I was after the park and swimming.” Anna explained and Cathy nodded. She knew the feeling. They reached the bottom of the stairs and both froze, eyes wide at the scene in front of them. 

The kitchen was absolute chaos. There were dirty bowls everywhere, in the sink, on the counter, on the table. The walls were splattered with what looked to be pancake mix. And Cathy was pretty sure she could smell something burning. 

And in the center of the chaos stood Anne, Kat, Lizzie and Mary, covered in flour and pancake batter. 

“Good morning! We’re making pancakes.” Mary told them, excitement evident in her voice. 

“Pancakes.” Lizzie mimicked. 

“We can see that.” Anna replied, a smirk on her face. Cathy bit her lip trying to hold back her laughter. 

“We had a bit of an accident with the mixer.” Kat said, gesturing to the walls. 

“Do we even want to know?” Cathy asked. Mary nodded enthusiastically. 

“Annie said we could make pancakes for breakfast so I went and got Kitty cause I knew she would want to help and Lizzie wanted to help too. So we googled a recipe and started to make it and it said to mix and Lizzie really wanted to mix so Kat helped her and it went everywhere!” Mary explained, and Kat blushed slightly. “And then Mum said some rude words in Spanish and left to go help Janey because we were too much for her to deal with this early in the morning. Well that’s what she said at least.” The young girl opened her mouth to explain more but Cathy interrupted her. 

“Is there something burning?” She questioned, and Anne and Kat’s eyes widened. 

“Fuck we forgot about the ones we were cooking.” Anne exclaimed, and Lizzie giggled. 

“Fuck.” She repeated. Anna snorted. 

“Great parenting Boleyn.” She said, pushing a few of the dirty bowls away so she could sit at the table. 

“I’ll deal with that later. Trying to make sure the house doesn’t burn down.” Anne replied, sounding flustered. Cathy and Anna exchanged a look, and Cathy handed Mae to the German girl. 

“Here.” She said, walking over to Anne. “Let me help.”

The dark haired girl took a step back as Cathy took over, putting the pan with the charred remains of the pancakes into the sink and grabbing a new one out. 

“Do we have-” Cathy began, and Anne handed her the butter before she could finish.

“Thanks.” She said. “I’ve got this, you and Kat get the kids cleaned up before Jane or Catalina find out what’s going on down here.” Anne nodded, grabbing Lizzie from her spot on a chair and herding Kat and Mary down the hallway to the downstairs bathroom. 

“Do you want me to clean up?” Anna asked. “I can hold Mae and clean?” 

Cathy glanced over. 

“Her carrier is in the media room if you want to put her in there and help out.” She said and Anna quickly grabbed the carrier, clipping Mae in and beginning to assist with the clean up while the new pan heated up. 

Within ten minutes the kitchen was back to normal and the first batch of pancakes were cooking nicely. Kat and Mary re-entered the room and sat down at the table, closely followed by Anne and Lizzie. 

Anne clipped Lizzie into her high chair before noticing Mae in her carrier on the table. 

“Do you mind if I get her out Cathy?” Anne asked and Cathy shook her head. 

“Of course not.” She replied, flipping the pancakes. Anne unclipped Mae from her carrier, sitting back on her chair with the baby in her arms. Mae grabbed at Anne’s shirt, her mouth smacking and Anne laughed. 

“I think someone’s hungry.” She said, releasing her shirt from the two month old’s fist. 

“There’s a pumped bottle in the fridge if you want to feed her.” Cathy said, and quickly spoke again.   
“You don’t have to, of course. Only if you want to.” 

Anne laughed, standing up to heat up the bottle, Mae still cradled in her arms. 

“It’s fine, it’s the least I can do with you making our pancakes after cleaning up our mess.” She said, placing the bottle in the bottle warmer on the bench and pressing the button to start. “Besides, I miss having a tiny baby to feed. Mine got big.” 

Cathy smiled softly at her in thanks, before turning her attention back to the pancakes, plating up the first batch. 

Anna grabbed the plate, taking it over to the table and placing it in the middle, where Mary and Kat grabbed some, the latter cutting up a pancake for Lizzie and feeding it to her cousin’s daughter. Anna sent the plate back over to Cathy for refilling, as the bottle warmer beeped to signify Mae’s bottle was done. Anne grabbed it out, testing the temperature of the milk, before heading back to the table and sitting down, and beginning to feed Mae. 

“Oh thank the lord above, you didn’t burn the kitchen down.” Catalina’s voice came from the stairs, as she and a very tired looking Jane entered the room. 

“Almost!” Mary grinned happily at her mother. 

“Coffee, Jane?” Cathy called over to the blonde. 

“Tea please, if you don’t mind.” Jane replied. Cathy flicked the kettle on, before plating the second batch of pancakes for Anna to deliver to the table. 

“By the way.” Anne spoke, directing her words at the two newcomers. “No one is allowed to say the f-u-c-k word because someone decided to repeat it this morning.” She looked at Lizzie who smiled innocently at her mother. 

“I see Mae.” The three year old told her mother, who nodded. 

“Yeah Mama is giving Mae her breakfast. Eat yours please.” Anne told her and Lizzie grinned at Kat, eating the forkful of pancake that she was offering her. 

“How could that innocent little face do anything wrong?” Jane cooed, and Anna laughed. 

“It was hilarious.” She said. Anne glared at her, and her smile dropped. 

“Maybe to you, but I don’t want to be getting phone calls from the childcare next week telling me that my three year old is teaching the other kids the f-bomb.” Anne shook her head. 

Cathy brought Jane’s tea over and the blonde smiled appreciatively. 

“Do we need any more pancakes?” Cathy asked and the women at the table all shook their heads. Cathy nodded, heading back over to the kitchen to take the pan off the heat and place it into the sink to cool. 

“Come eat Cathy dear.” Catalina said, and Cathy nodded absentmindedly, pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

She walked back over to the table, taking a seat next to Anne and smiling when she saw that Mae was almost finished her bottle. 

“Do you want me to take her so you can eat?” Cathy asked Anne, who shook her head quickly. 

“I’m enjoying my baby snuggles.” She said. 

“At least let me feed you then.” Cathy said, grabbing a pancake, cutting a bit off and feeding it to Anne. 

“Just when I thought breakfast couldn’t get any weirder, it turned gay.” Anna laughed, causing Cathy to blush bright red. 

“I’m just being helpful.” She replied. 

“Sure you are.” The German teased. Anne rolled her eyes. 

“Ignore her Cathy, she’s just jealous she doesn’t have anyone to feed her.” She said and Anna scoffed. Cathy smiled at Anne, feeding her another piece of pancake. 

“I could get someone to feed me if I wanted to. I just prefer to feed myself. I’m an independent woman.” Anna bit back. 

“Ladies, I say this in the nicest way, shut up. Poor Jane looks like her head is about to explode and you lot nattering isn’t helping that.” Catalina jumped in before Anne could respond. 

“Is Edward okay Jane?” Kat asked the blonde, who nodded. 

“He was just a bit fussy and I couldn’t calm him. Catalina came up and helped me get him settled. Thank you for that, by the way.” She directed her last statement to the Spanish woman, who smiled back at her. 

“It was no problem at all. As I told Cathy yesterday, I had my fair share of tears with Mary when she was a baby.” Catalina replied. “Besides, we’re a family now, we help each other out.” 

“Like how Cathy and Anna helped us with the pancakes.” Mary chimed in. “And how Annie fed Mae.”

Her mother nodded. “Exactly.” Silence fell over the room. 

“Any plans today?” Anna questioned, breaking the silence. 

“Mary has her meet the teacher day at school so we have to head there in half an hour.” Catalina said, glancing at the clock on the wall. 

“I think the childcare is doing a similar thing.” Jane said. “Maybe we should go check it out? We have to enrol the babies anyway.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” Cathy answered, and Anne nodded, her mouth full of pancakes. 

“I want to check out the dance studios at some point.” Kat brought up. 

“We can go do that while everyone is out doing kid related activities?” Anna suggested and the pink haired girl grinned widely. 

“Really?” She asked. Anna nodded. 

“Of course.” She replied. 

“Looks like everyone knows what they’re doing today then.” Anne said. 

“Do you think tonight we could have a movie night or something? Just to spend a bit more time together.” Kat asked and everyone agreed quickly. 

“We could get chinese takeaway from that place we saw near the pizza restaurant the other day.” Jane suggested. 

“And go for a walk for ice cream at the cafe afterwards.” Anne grinned.

“It’s settled then. Movie night, dinner and ice cream tonight.” Catalina grinned. “Now let’s get ready and go.”

An hour later Cathy and Mae were ready to go and were waiting for Jane, Edward, Anne and Lizzie on the front deck.

“Look at the birds Mae-Mae!” Cathy exclaimed, pointing to a pair of blue birds sitting in a bush at the end of their driveway. 

“Wow so pretty mum!” Came a voice from behind her and she spun around to see Anne and Lizzie. 

“Funny.” Cathy replied and Anne grinned. 

“I know I am.” 

The door opened to reveal Jane and Edward. 

“Ready to go?” The blonde asked, and the other two mothers nodded. “Okay good let’s go.” 

The three of them and the three kids made their way down the driveway and made a left onto the road. 

“I’m so glad the uni has childcare, I don’t know what I would have done if I had to take Edward to classes.” Jane said as they walked. 

“One of us would have taken care of him. It would have been no issue.” Anne replied, and Cathy nodded in agreement. 

“This single parents program is actually a big reason why I chose to come to this university. The fact that with a single tick of a box I could be placed with other women in the exact same situation as me was so reassuring for both me and my mother. As I told you yesterday Cath, she’s missing us a lot and it helps her to know that I’m not alone.” Jane explained. 

“Yeah me too. When I found out I was pregnant my parents were not impressed. They told me I would have to give up on my dreams because a child would ruin my life. So of course I had to prove them wrong. The minute I heard about the program I was sold.” Cathy agreed. 

“It probably doesn’t shock you that the program was part of the reason I ended up here too. I was debating between here and another school that had a really good arts program. But then Kitty got accepted here and it was a no-brainer.” Just as Anne told her story, the group arrived at the childcare centre. It was a decently large building, with paintings of rainbows and butterflies decorating the exterior. 

“In we go.” Jane said, pulling on the door. And together they entered the building. 

Once inside the group split up, with Anne and Lizzie heading to the toddler room and Cathy, Mae, Edward and Jane heading to the baby room. 

There was a young man and a baby in the room as they entered, but other than that it was empty. The room was filled with brightly coloured pictures, toys and a row of bassinets along the far wall. 

“Looks nice.” Cathy commented, and Jane nodded in agreement. 

“They’re gonna love it here.” She said. 

After exploring the room the two mothers headed over to the reception area, where an elderly woman had now appeared. 

“New enrollments?” She asked, and Cathy and Jane nodded. “Hi, I’m Cass, I’m the head carer in the baby room. Are you in the program? What are your names?” 

“We both are. I’m Jane Seymour.” Jane said, and Cass scanned a list, nodding when she saw Jane’s name. 

“How old is your son?” She asked. 

“He’s six months old.” Jane replied, and Cass scribbled something down before handing Jane some paperwork, and turning her attention to Cathy. 

“And I’m Catherine Parr.” Cathy said, and the carer nodded again after finding Cathy’s name. 

“How old is she?” She asked, gesturing to Mae. 

“Two months old.” Cathy replied. Cass frowned. 

“I’m really sorry Ms Parr but your daughter has to be at least three months old before we can accept her here. It’s the law I’m afraid.” Cass told her and Cathy’s heart sunk. “Is she close?” 

“She’s ten weeks old.” Cathy said. 

“Well in two weeks time she will be eligible to join us, you can pre-enrol her but until she is three months she cannot join us unfortunately.” Cass replied, a somewhat sympathetic look on her face. 

“It’s okay Cathy, whenever you have classes whoever is at home will look after her. Remember the talk on the way here?” Jane rubbed her back. Cathy nodded.

“Thank you.” She said. 

“No problems. We’ll work it out when we get back home.” Jane replied. 

“Here’s the paperwork for pre-enrollment.” Cass handed Cathy four pages of paper. “Just hand them back when you’re finished and your daughter will be accepted to come here the minute she reaches the age requirement.” 

“Thank you.” Cathy said and the elderly woman smiled in acknowledgement. 

Once they had filled out their paperwork and handed it back in, Jane and Cathy decided to head into the toddler section to find Anne and Lizzie. Cathy pushed open the door and let Jane enter ahead of her, following the blonde and baby Edward when they were through. The toddler room was very similar to the babies room in its brightly coloured walls and decorations. They made their way to the other side of the room, where Lizzie was climbing on a chair as Anne filled in her paperwork at the reception. 

“Lizzie, should you be doing that?” Jane asked, and the three year old paused before nodding. 

“Yes.” She said simply. 

“Are you sure?” Jane asked, sitting down on the chair next to the redhead. 

“Mama said go play.” Lizzie told her. “So I play.” 

“But should you be playing on this chair?” Cathy asked and the toddler fixed her gaze on the curly haired girl. 

“Yes.” She told her, and Jane gave Cathy a look. 

“Lizzie sweetie, I don’t think the chair is very safe to climb on. You might fall and hurt yourself, and your Mama doesn’t want that.” Jane told her in a soft voice. 

“Why?” Lizzie asked. 

“Because she loves you and she doesn’t want you to be hurt.” Jane replied. Lizzie frowned. 

“But why?” 

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Anne joined them before Jane could reply to the toddler. 

“The babies all good to come back?” The brunette asked. Jane nodded but Cathy shook her head. 

“Mae isn’t old enough yet. Two weeks away from qualifying.” The younger girl said and Anne pulled a face. 

“That sucks, but at least you have us to look after her while you’re in classes.” She said and Jane nodded. 

“That’s what I said.” She agreed. Lizzie stood up on the chair again, and Anne turned her attention to her daughter. 

“Lizzie. Chairs are not toys.” She told her, lifting the toddler up and placing her on the ground. 

“Why?” Lizzie asked and Cathy had to bite her lip to hide her smile. 

“Because I say so.” Anne retaliated and Lizzie blew a raspberry at her mother in response. 

“Time to go I think.” Jane said, standing up, and Cathy nodded. 

“Don’t wanna.” Lizzie said and Anne ignored her, picking her up again. Lizzie frowned. 

“Wanna stay Mama.” She said. 

“You can come back next week.” Anne told her, but Lizzie wasn’t happy with that answer. She wriggled around in her mother’s arms, trying to escape, but Anne only held her tighter. 

“Wanna stay.” Lizzie repeated. “Please Mama.” 

“You can’t stay yet. Not until your Mama has classes.” Jane tried to reason with the toddler, but it was no use. The minute they exited the building Lizzie started screaming. 

“Eizabeth, you can come back next week. Right now we’re going home.” Anne told her, and at the use of her full name the toddler screamed louder. 

“No. Wanna stay.” Lizzie said, successfully escaping her mother’s arms and sitting down on the concrete in front of the childcare, kicking her legs and crying loudly. 

Anne shut her eyes for a second, before sitting down on the ground next to the toddler. 

“Why?” She asked, and Lizzie stopped screaming to look at her mother, clearly not expecting that reaction. She tilted her head. 

“Toys.” She replied. 

“You have toys at home.” Anne retorted. Lizzie paused.

“Colouring.” She tried. 

“You have colouring too.” Anne responded. 

“Snacks.” Lizzie answered. 

“We have snacks. All of your favourites.” Jane and Cathy exchanged an impressed look at how quickly Anne had talked Lizzie down from her tantrum. 

Lizzie looked at her mother. 

“Apple bits?” She asked, and Anne nodded. 

“Yep.” She said, and Lizzie stood up. 

“We go now.” She told her mother. 

“What do you say first?” Anne questioned. Lizzie paused, thinking. 

“Sorry Mama.” She said after a moment, putting her arms around Anne’s neck. 

“That’s okay baby. Thank you for saying sorry.” Anne hugged her back. She stood up and picked up the three year old, before turning to Jane and Cathy. 

“Sorry about that.” She apologised.

“Don’t be sorry, kids will be kids.” Jane replied. 

“Yeah it’s completely fine.” Cathy agreed. “Plus that was some 10/10 parenting right there.” 

Anne laughed. 

“I try my best.” She said, and the six of them headed home with no further issues.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the queens settle in for a movie night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, sexual references? i think thats all let me know if i missed anything 
> 
> here we go, the next chapter! 
> 
> i might upload another chapter later on today since this one is a bit short haha
> 
> hope you like this and make sure to leave a comment if you liked it! 
> 
> enjoy x

“Movie night, movie night!” Kat bounced around the Media Room singing, as everyone slowly filed in and settled on the couches or cushions filling the room. Once everyone was seated, Catalina took charge. 

“Okay we have to order our food. That way while it’s being made we can figure out movies and everything else here, so that when it arrives we’ll be ready to eat and start movie night.” She said. Anna held out a menu. All of the other women, excluding Kat, frowned. 

“Kitty and I collected it after checking out the studios today.” She explained, glancing around at their faces. 

“We grabbed a menu for every restaurant.” Kat added. 

“Good thinking, we can put them on the fridge.” Jane praised. 

“So what are we gonna get?” Anne asked from her spot next to Cathy. The dark haired girl had practically shoved Mary out of the way to claim the spot on the couch next to her, claiming it was the best spot to see the screen from. Cathy didn’t believe that for a second, but she wasn’t going to complain about sitting next to Anne for the night. 

“How about we get the family pack and then just add on any extras that we want.” Catalina suggested. 

“I want fried rice!” Mary said quickly. Everyone was quick to add to the order. 

Once they had decided on what they wanted Catalina left the room to call and place their order, and Jane took over the position of person in charge. 

“Okay movies. Any suggestions?” She asked. 

“Well they’ll have to be kid friendly.” Cathy said. “How about a Disney movie?”

“Can we watch Lemonade Mouth?” Kat asked, and Mary cheered at the suggestion. 

“Yeah I wanna watch Lemonade Mouth!” She grinned at Kat, who smiled back. 

“I have lemonade Mama?” Lizzie asked. The three year old had curled herself into a ball on a cushion on the floor with a stuffed penguin gripped tightly in her arms. 

“I don’t think we have any lemonade baby.” Anne replied. 

“We do, Catalina and I bought some cans yesterday with the groceries.” Jane said. Lizzie sat up quickly. 

“Please?” She smiled innocently at Anne. 

“You can have a little bit with dinner, okay?” The mother told her, and Lizzie grinned happily, cuddling back into her penguin and laying down.

“Okay, anyone not want to watch Lemonade Mouth?” Anna asked, opening Disney Plus on the TV. 

“I’ve never seen it.” Cathy admitted. Kat and Anne gasped loudly. 

“Cathy, I’m disappointed in you.” Anne scolded, and Kat grinned. 

“You’ll love it Cath, I promise.” 

As it turns out Cathy did love Lemonade Mouth. The songs were catchy, the storyline was amazing, and she laughed and cried along with the characters. 

Halfway through the movie their food arrived, and the new family devoured it quickly, loving every minute of this bonding experience. 

The credits ended and Kat reached for the remote. 

“What next?” She asked. 

“How about Tangled? It’s my favourite.” Jane suggested. Everyone was quick to agree so Kat opened up the movie and it began playing. 

Cathy lent back into the chair, Mae fast asleep in her arms. She shut her eyes for a second, and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt the warmth and pressure of a person snuggling into her side. She opened her eyes to find Anne snuggled up to her, her head resting on Cathy’s shoulder. Cathy lifted her arm out, placing it around Anne, who snuggled closer. Cathy took a deep breath in. Anne smelt like mint and apple shampoo. 

She turned her attention back to the movie, but the warmth of Anne’s body snuggled into hers. and the soft beating of Mae’s heart against her chest was too much, and the curly haired girl found herself drifting off into a comfortable sleep. 

“Annie! Cathy! Wake up!” Mary’s voice startled Cathy and she jumped slightly, her eyes opening quickly. Anne groaned next to her. 

“What’s wrong?” Cathy asked, her voice full of sleep. 

“Ice cream!” Lizzie yelled, jumping onto her mother. 

“Did you really have to scream at us?” Anne asked, wrapping her arms around Lizzie as she sat up. Cathy looked down at her own arms, fear filling her as she realised Mae was no longer in her arms. She looked around the room quickly, relief flooding her system when she realised that Kat was holding Mae. 

“Yeah, cause Mum said it’s ice cream time.” Mary replied. 

“I didn’t say to give them heart attacks though.” Catalina shook her head. Mary grinned sheepishly. 

“Oh well, they’re awake now.” She said, and her mother sighed. Cathy stood up from the couch and moved over to Kat. 

“I can take her if you want.” She said, and Kat nodded, handing the baby back to her mother. 

“Jane was worried that Anne would squish her, so she took her from you when you fell asleep and we all had a turn of holding her.” The pink haired girl explained. 

“She’s such a good baby.” Jane said, re-entering the room with Edward in a pram. “Is everyone ready to go?” Everyone nodded. 

“Let’s go then.” 

The walk to the cafe was short, the only light coming from the streetlights that lined the roads.  
The group entered the cafe, happy to find it nearly empty, with only a couple sat in the corner sharing a milkshake. 

“Hey guys, what can I get for you?” The young boy behind the counter asked. 

“Just ice creams please.” Catalina said. He nodded and directed them to the long ice cream counter off to the side. 

“What flavours are we after?” He asked. One by one the group stepped forward, choosing their ice cream flavour. Finally it was Cathy’s turn. 

“Could I get a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of mint please?” She ordered, and the boy quickly served up her order, and she took it, thanking him. Kat stepped up behind Cathy, placing her order and finally the group were done. 

“My shout.” Anna said, stepping up to the counter as the rest of the women protested. 

“Anna you don’t have to do that.” Jane told her. The German tapped her card to pay. 

“Too late. Besides, Catalina paid for the chinese food tonight, and you paid for pizza on Cathy’s first night here. We’ll all have our turn.” She suggested, and the group nodded in agreement. 

With one last thank you the group exited the cafe, sitting on benches outside to eat their ice cream. 

“Can I have a lick?” Anne asked, sitting down next to Cathy, who held out her ice cream in response. Anne licked the side of the mint ice cream, smiling. 

“Oh that’s good. I should have gotten that instead of rainbow. Want to try?” She offered, and Cathy copied Anne’s actions, licking the ice cream quickly. 

“Not bad but I think I like mine better.” Cathy said, and Anne nodded in agreement. 

Cathy looked away from Anne to glance around the group. She made eye contact with Anna who gave her a suggestive look, eyes flicking between Cathy and Anne. Cathy blushed and looked away, watching as Lizzie tried to steal Kat’s ice cream from her, the older girl more than happy to share with the toddler. Turning her attention back to her ice cream she quickly finished, just as Jane stood up. 

“Okay I think it’s time we head back home and get these kiddies bathed and into bed.” The blonde suggested, and they all agreed and slowly made their way home. 

Cathy was in bed by 1am, a rare occurrence for her. Mae was fast asleep in her bassinet after her late night feed and skin to skin time, and Cathy had decided to finish the book she had been reading since she had moved in. She was just getting to the interesting part when she was interrupted by a soft knock. 

“Come in.” She called. The door opened revealing Anne. 

“Deja vu.” Cathy laughed as the taller girl entered the room, climbing into Cathy’s bed and curling herself into the curly haired girl’s side like she had been earlier on the couch. 

“I was feeling lonely and I figured you’d still be awake so I came down and your light was still on so…” Anne trailed off. 

“You’re more than welcome anytime, I’m almost nocturnal.” Cathy told her, placing her bookmark back into her book. “Do you wanna watch something on TV? Or we can just chat?” 

“Chatting sounds nice. Did you have a good day?” Anne asked. Cathy paused, reviewing the day mentally. 

“Yeah it was good. I really needed movie night.” She replied, and she felt Anne nod. 

“Same here. I especially loved snuggling up with a really pretty girl on the couch.” The older girl said, and Cathy blushed slightly at the words. 

“Me too.” She agreed, and Anne sat up, studying Cathy’s face. 

“What?” Cathy asked, feeling self conscious all of the sudden. 

“You really are pretty.” Anne whispered. Cathy smiled softly, and then next minute she felt soft lips on hers, slightly hesitant at first, but more confident when Cathy returned the kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the feeling of Anne kissing her, and just as suddenly as it had begun Anne was moving away. 

“I’ve been thinking about that constantly since yesterday.” The dark haired girl said. Cathy smiled. 

“Then why didn’t you do it sooner?” She questioned. Anne shrugged. 

“I was worried you would think I was moving too fast.” She admitted, and Cathy laughed. 

“It’s a kiss Anne, not a fucking marriage proposal.” She said, and Anne cracked a smile. 

“Well in that case I would very much like to do it again.” The older girl joked, and Cathy leaned in, quickly attaching their lips again. Now that they both knew that the other wanted this, their kiss was slightly more heated. Cathy gasped as she felt Anne’s tongue slip into her mouth, her hands tangled in Anne’s long dark hair. After a moment they separated, breathing heavily. 

“Anne...” Cathy began, trailing off as she looked into Anne’s eyes. 

“Cath.” Anne replied. Cathy moved her hand to brush Anne’s hair off her cheek. 

“It scares me how much I like you already.” She admitted. Anne smiled. 

“I know babes, me too. But we don’t have to jump into anything. We can just be friends who kiss.” She suggested. 

“Friends who kiss.” Cathy repeated, before grinning. “I like that idea.”

“Great, friends who kiss it is.” Anne returned the smile, before leaning in to kiss Cathy once more. 

Anne’s hands made their way into Cathy’s hair as they kissed, tugging gently on the curls. Cathy moaned quietly. 

“Annie.” She muttered as they broke apart. Anne grinned. 

“Oh so I’m Annie now?” 

Cathy froze. 

“Sorry do you not want me to call you that?” She asked, and Anne laughed. 

“I’m just teasing, of course you can call me Annie. All of my closest friends do, and it’s only right that my friend who I kiss should also have that privilege.” She replied. “Or you can call me Nan, that’s what I get from my family.” Cathy smiled. 

“Annie and Cathy, the friends who kiss.” She said. 

Anne laughed loudly. “That’s us.” 

They lent back in to kiss once again, but were interrupted by a yell from upstairs. 

“Mama!” Came Lizzie’s voice. Anne moved back. 

“Gotta go be Mama again.” She said, standing up, before leaning down and pressing one last soft kiss to Cathy’s lips. 

“Goodnight Cathy.” She whispered. 

“Goodnight Annie.” Cathy replied. And with that Anne was gone, leaving Cathy alone to process the events of the last few minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy and anne spend a day at the duck pond with their girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, breastfeeding, kinda angsty for a bit 
> 
> here we go, as promised a second chapter to make up for the last one being kinda short
> 
> things are progressing!!!! 
> 
> also just letting you know that i'm taking requests for one shots on here or on my tumblr (beheadedmillie.tumblr.com) so if you have anything you want to see let me know! 
> 
> as always make sure to leave a comment if you liked it, they really keep me motivated 
> 
> enjoy x

Cathy woke the next morning to Anne and Lizzie climbing on top of her, yelling her name. 

“Cathy you sleepyhead, you slept through your alarm!” Anne sung, a grin appearing on her face. Cathy squinted to block out the brightness of the sun that was peeking through her window. 

“What time is it?” She asked, noting the silence coming from the rest of the house. 

“It’s eleven. Everyone’s gone. Catalina, Kitty and Jane had classes this morning, and Anna has one this afternoon, but she was going to get brunch and then head to the gym afterwards. Mary is at school and Edward is at childcare. Which only leaves us, and our very adorable daughters.” Anne said, sitting up so that she was sat straddling Cathy’s waist. Cathy’s stomach fluttered. 

“Park?” Lizzie spoke, sitting cross legged on Cathy’s bed. Anne nodded. 

“Oh yeah, Lizzie and I are gonna go for a walk to get lunch and go to the park. We want to find the duck pond.” She told Cathy. 

“Duckies! Quack.” Lizzie grinned, and Cathy couldn’t help but smile at the three year old. 

“Do you and Mae want to come with us?” Anne asked, fluttering her eyes. 

“When you do that how could I say no?” Cathy replied, and Anne cheered. 

“I knew you’d say yes.” She grinned. Mae made a noise from her bassinet and Lizzie quickly climbed off the bed, rushing over to see her. 

“Hi Mae.” She grinned, standing on her toes to peer over the edge of the bassinet. Mae cooed at her, and Lizzie squealed with delight. 

“Park Mae? We see duckies.” She told the baby. Anne rolled off Cathy and curled up into her side, taking in the sweet scene. 

“She’d make such a good big sister.” Cathy whispered as they watched Lizzie reach in to hold Mae’s hand. 

“She would. Good thing she’s got Mae and Ed now.” Anne replied. They stayed like that for a moment, as Lizzie babbled away about the ducks at the park to Mae, the two month old occasionally making noises which would cause Lizzie to giggle happily. 

Eventually Anne sat up, giving Cathy a quick kiss before she spoke. 

“Come on Lizzie. Let’s wait downstairs while Cathy and Mae get ready to go to the park.” She said, climbing off the bed. Lizzie stepped away from Mae, rushing over to her mother’s side. 

“I’ll have to feed Mae first, but after that we’ll be right down.” Cathy told them and Anne grinned. 

“Sounds good. Let’s go see what’s on TV Liz.” Anne opened the door and the two of them left. Cathy stretched before climbing out of bed and picking Mae up. 

She sat back down onto the bed to feed Mae, humming a lullaby that her mother had sung to her as a child while Mae ate. 

Once Mae was done, Cathy stood up again, placing the baby on the bed to change her nappy and dress her for the day, swaddling her and placing her back into her bassinet so that Cathy herself could get dressed. 

She slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and grabbed Mae’s nappy bag and the baby, who had begun to drift off after her feed, and headed downstairs to find Anne and Lizzie. 

“Ready to go?” Anne asked as Cathy and Mae entered the room. Cathy nodded, so Anne flicked the TV off and stood up, picking Lizzie up from her spot on the floor. They headed over to the door, grabbing their keys out of the dish that was sat in the entrance. Catalina had claimed it would be easier for them to all have their keys in the same place, so no one would ever lose them. 

“I’m gonna get Mae’s pram out of the back of my car I think. So I don’t have to hold her all the time.” Cathy said, grabbing her car keys. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Anne replied. They stepped out of the house, locking the door behind them, and headed over to Cathy’s car. 

“Do you mind holding her while I get it out?” Cathy asked. Anne shook her head. 

“Not at all.” She replied, taking Mae from Cathy’s arms and smiling softly at the sleeping baby. 

Cathy unlocked her car, opening the boot and lifting the pram out. She quickly assembled it, before shutting and locking the car. Anne placed Mae into the pram gently, and Cathy placed her nappy bag into the bottom. 

“You can put your bag in if you want.” Cathy offered, and Anne obliged, placing her backpack into the bottom of the pram next to Cathy’s bag. 

“Okay, are we good?” Anne asked, Cathy nodded. 

“Off we go then.”

They reached the commons area in just under 10 minutes, stopping in the middle to survey their food options. 

“Subway?” Anne suggested. 

“Sounds good.” Cathy agreed, and they headed towards the restaurant. 

Anne pushed open the door and they entered the store. 

“Hey, welcome to Subway, what can I get you?” The girl behind the counter asked. 

They quickly ordered, deciding on adding drinks and some cookies for dessert. Once they had their food they exited the restaurant. 

“Just wait here, I’m gonna grab Liz some chicken nuggets.” Anne said. 

“Could you grab me a coffee please?” Cathy asked. Anne grinned. 

“Of course I can. What kind?” 

“Vanilla latte please. Two sugars.” Cathy told her and Anne nodded, before heading into the cafe. 

“Where’s Mama?” Lizzie asked. 

“She went to get you some nuggets.” Cathy informed her. Lizzie’s face lit up at the mention of nuggets. 

“Nuggies?” She repeated. Cathy nodded. 

“Yep.” The toddler cheered happily. 

“See duckies then?” She asked, and Cathy nodded again. 

“Yeah and then we’ll go see the duckies.” She assured Lizzie who grinned up at her. 

“Quack.” 

Mae stirred in the pram, whimpering in her sleep and Lizzie peered into the pram, a concerned look on her face. 

“Is okay baby. Just a dream.” She whispered, patting Mae’s leg. Cathy just about melted on the spot. 

“Does your Mama tell you that Lizzie?” She asked, and Lizzie nodded. 

“That’s very sweet of you to tell Mae that.”

“What did she tell Mae?” Anne asked, coming back over with the nuggets and Cathy’s coffee, which she handed to the younger girl. 

“Mae sad.” Lizzie told her mother. “I say is okay baby, just a dream.” Anne smiled. 

“I’m sure Mae appreciates that.” She said, and Lizzie giggled. 

“Okay, let’s go find those duckies.” Cathy suggested, and with that they headed back towards the park. 

It didn’t take them long to arrive at the park and find a place to sit and eat their lunch. Cathy and Anne sat next to each other on a bench, with Lizzie opting to stand up and eat her nuggets from where they rested in her mother’s lap, so that if Mae made any noise she could check on her instantly. 

“Do you want to try a bite of Mama’s lunch Lizzie?” Anne asked. The three year old nodded, taking a bite of Anne’s sub, pulling a face as she chewed it. 

“Looks like she’s not a fan.” Cathy laughed. “Wanna try mine?” 

Lizzie looked up at her mother, as if asking permission, and Anne nodded, so Lizzie stepped forward and tentatively took a bite. She pulled a face again. 

“Clearly Subway is not Elizabeth Boleyn approved.” Anne giggled. Cathy grinned. 

They continued eating their lunch, and once they were done Anne placed their rubbish in the bin. 

“Let’s go find those duckies.” She said once she came back, and Lizzie squealed with excitement. 

They headed in the opposite direction of the playground, finding the pond easily, and made their way onto a dock that was surrounded by large handrails. 

“Mae look! Duckies.” The three year old pointed excitedly. Mae stared at her curiously, having woken from her nap as they ate lunch. 

“Mama, duckies.” Lizzie grabbed onto her mother’s leg, grinning happily. 

“I see them baby.” Anne smiled down at her. The three year old turned to Cathy. 

“Cathy, duckies!” She said. 

“So exciting!” Cathy replied enthusiastically. Lizzie lent over the edge of the pram to talk to Mae. 

“Duckies quack Mae.” She told the baby, who stared back at her. 

“You’re very clever Lizzie.” Cathy complimented the three year old. She smiled sweetly. 

“Thank you.” She replied. 

“You’re very welcome.” Cathy smiled. Anne reached into her bag, pulling out some bread and giving it to Lizzie. 

“Rip little bits and throw it to the duckies.” Anne instructed. Lizzie obeyed, ripping off a small chunk of bread and throwing it into the water, squealing as the ducks rushed forward to gobble up the bread. 

“Mama look!” She laughed. Anne smiled, pulling out her phone to video her daughter. Lizzie ripped off another chunk, throwing it into the water, and again squealing as the ducks ate it. Anne ended the video and slid her phone back into her pocket, turning her attention to Cathy. 

She took a step forward, placing a soft kiss on Cathy’s lips. Cathy smiled softly. 

“I don’t think I’ll get used to that.” She whispered. 

“Me either.” Anne agreed, pulling her back in for another kiss. 

Anne brought her hand up to Cathy’s neck to deepen the kiss, but was soon interrupted by Lizzie grabbing onto her leg. They separated.

“Mae feed the duckies Mama?” Lizzie asked. Cathy and Anne exchanged a look. 

“I think Mae might be a little bit too little to feed the duckies. Why don’t you do it for her?” Cathy suggested, and Lizzie nodded happily, throwing the last of the bread into the water. 

They stood in silence for a moment before Anne spoke. 

“I feel like we need to name the ones who are hanging around. Clearly they like us.” She said. 

“Or they like the fact that your three year old is throwing food at them.” Cathy laughed. 

“True, but we still have to name them.” Anne replied. She looked into the pond at the handful of ducks who had stayed now that the food had stopped. 

“That big white one, her name is Sandra. She’s the boss of the pond.” She decided. Cathy raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh really?” She questioned. Anne nodded. 

“Yep. And the one with brown on it’s head. That’s Barry.” She continued. Cathy snorted. 

“Barry?” Anne shot her a playful glare. 

“You can’t tell me that duck isn’t named Barry.” She defended. Cathy raised her hands in defeat. 

“Fine then, what about the little black one?” Anne didn’t even hesitate. 

“Fred.” She replied. 

“Fred?” Cathy repeated. 

“You heard me.” Anne laughed. 

“And the reddish-brown one?” Cathy said. 

“Lizzie!” Lizzie chimed in. 

“Okay baby, that one can be called Lizzie.” Anne agreed, running a hand through Lizzie’s curls. Cathy looked back at the duck. 

“It’s almost the same colour as your beautiful hair.” She observed. 

“It is too, it was named perfectly.” Anne smiled. They fell into a comfortable silence. 

“Do you want a cookie Lizzie?” Cathy asked, reaching into the pram and grabbing the subway cookies out. Lizzie looked at her mother, and when Anne nodded, the toddler smiled. 

“Yes please.” She said. Cathy handed her a cookie. 

“Thank you.” Lizzie smiled. 

“You have such good manners Lizzie.” Cathy complimented. “Your Mama taught you well.” 

Anne blushed slightly at the compliment. 

“I tried.” She said, breaking off a bit of one of the other cookies to eat. 

“You succeeded.” Cathy assured her. 

“Mae cookie?” Lizzie spoke up. Anne shook her head. 

“Mae is too little for cookies.” She told her. Lizzie frowned. 

“Why?” She asked. 

“Because she’s only a baby, and babies drink milk.” Anne said. Happy with that answer Lizzie turned her attention back to the ducks. 

“We need a photo to remember our first unofficial date.” Anne said once they had all finished their cookies, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Cathy smiled. 

“I think you mean our first official date.” She replied. Anne shook her head. 

“No, our first date will be way more romantic than this.” 

“I think this is perfect Nan.” Cathy started, and Anne smiled at the use of the nickname. “The two of us here together, with our gorgeous babies. What else could we need?” Anne paused, thinking. 

“Okay.” She agreed after a second. “This can be our first official date. We still need a photo though.” 

Before Cathy could reply Anne had rushed over to a woman who was walking down the path nearby. Anne spoke and the woman nodded, following Anne over and taking the phone from the dark haired girl. 

Cathy lent down and lifted Mae out of the pram, moving it out of the shot, as Anne hoisted Lizzie up onto her hip. The two of them moved closer together, free arms around each other’s waists, smiling happily as the woman snapped some photos. 

“One more.” Anne said, turning her head and kissing Cathy, a soft red flush appearing on the latter's cheeks as she kissed back. They pulled apart and the woman smiled at them as she handed Anne her phone to check the photos.

“You have a beautiful little family.” The woman complimented. If Cathy’s cheeks weren’t already visibly red from the kiss, they were now.

“Thank you.” Anne replied. “And thank you for the photos, they turned out amazing.” 

The woman smiled. 

“No problems at all, enjoy the rest of your day.” She said, before leaving the small dock. Anne glanced at Cathy with a smile. 

“Shall we head back? The others will probably be home by now.” She said, and Cathy glanced at the time, shocked when she saw that it was almost four o’clock in the afternoon. 

“Shit, where did the time go?” She asked, clipping Mae back into her pram. 

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” Anne replied and Cathy nodded. 

“It truly does.” 

The group of four arrived home to find that everyone except for Anna had returned for the day. They paused briefly in the living room while Cathy took Mae out of her pram, folding it into the corner next to Edward’s. Once that was done they headed down the hallway and into the kitchen, where Jane, Kat and Catalina were sat around the table talking. 

“Where were you four?” Catalina asked, looking up as they entered. 

“Duckies!” Lizzie exclaimed happily, squirming out of her mother’s grip and rushing over to Kat who picked her up. 

“We went to the park and fed the ducks.” Anne explained. Cathy lent back against the counter, Mae safely in her arms. 

“I tell.” Lizzie grinned from her spot in Kat’s lap. 

“Okay you tell.” Anne agreed, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. 

“Mama say park and duckies, and eat nuggies and Mae see the duckies and I feed them and Cathy and Mama kiss.” She squealed, grinning happily at Jane, Kat and Catalina who’s jaws dropped at the last statement. 

Cathy turned bright red, Anne choked on her water.

“You what?” Kat asked, turning on her cousin. 

“I need to put Mae down for a nap.” Cathy muttered, rushing up the stairs quickly to avoid the reactions of the other girls. 

“Cathy.” She heard Catalina call, but she ignored her, entering her bedroom and shutting the door. She paused once the door was shut, hesitating with her hand hovering over the lock of the door. She needed some time to breathe, but she really didn’t want to lock the other girls out. 

Mae whimpered quietly, obviously sensing her mother’s distress, and Cathy turned her attention away from the lock and to the baby. 

“It’s okay my darling. Everything is going to be okay.” Cathy whispered, and Mae settled, lifting her fist up to her mouth. Cathy smiled. 

“Oh so you’re a hungry girl, you don’t care about your Mama’s worries, huh?” She asked the baby as she settled onto the bed and began to feed her. They sat in silence, Cathy staring intently at Mae as she suckled, hoping that she could banish the fears and doubts that were creeping into her head. 

What if they thought Cathy and Anne were moving too quickly?

What if they’re uncomfortable with the budding relationship?

What if the other women in the house were homophobic? 

Her quickly spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. 

“Cathy? It’s Lina, can I come in?” The Spanish woman called through the door. Cathy hesitated. 

“Yeah I guess.” She replied. Catalina entered, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. Cathy half shrugged, not wanting to move too much in fear of disrupting Mae. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Catalina tried. Cathy was silent for a moment. 

“I don’t know what to say.” She admitted, and Catalina patted her knee. 

“You want to know what I think?” She asked, and Cathy nodded. 

“I think that you and Anne have feelings that you’re not quite sure of yet. You’re clearly attracted to one another, that was obvious from the moment you walked through the front door and Anne’s jaw nearly hit the floor. You probably didn’t realise it because the rest of us were all introducing ourselves, but Anne couldn’t take her eyes off you.” She paused. “It’s become very obvious to all of us in the last week that you and Anne have a connection, and clearly the two of you have realised it too.” 

“But what if someone living here isn’t comfortable with same sex couples?” Cathy interrupted. 

“I’ll tell you this now, that is not the case. I was raised in a strict Catholic family, and I’m a very religious person, but I believe that you can’t help who you fall in love with. Jane is one of the most accepting and loving people I have ever met, so I highly doubt she would have any issues with it. And both Kat and Anna are lesbians, so they’re obviously accepting.” Catalina said, and Cathy’s eyebrows raised at the last part. 

“Wait Kat is a lesbian? Anna I understand, she’s kinda stereotypical lesbian, but Kat?” Cathy replied, and Catalina laughed. 

“Clearly your gaydar needs touching up.” She said, before her serious face reappeared. 

“The point is mija, everyone here will love and accept you for who you are and whoever you decide to love. And if your type is five foot six, dark haired gremlins then you go get yourself that gremlin.” 

Cathy smiled softly. 

“Thank you Lina.” She said. Catalina returned her smile. 

“I would hug you but…” The older woman trailed off, gesturing to Mae. 

“Later.” Cathy replied. Catalina nodded. 

“I’ll owe you a hug.” 

Once Mae was done eating, burped and swaddled in her bassinet, Cathy decided that she should probably brave heading back downstairs. 

She entered the kitchen, baby monitor in hand, only to find that the other women had left the room, leaving only Mary sat at the table. 

“Do you know where your mum and the others are?” Cathy asked her. Mary nodded. 

“They’re in the living room.” She replied. Cathy thanked her, before heading down the hallway and entering the living room, finding Kat and Jane on one couch, and Catalina and Anne on the other, leaving the third couch empty. 

“Cathy, come join us.” Catalina offered when she saw the young mother. Cathy hesitated, suddenly regretting her decision to come downstairs. 

“It’s okay Cathy.” Kat assured her.

Cathy walked over to the empty couch and sat down slowly. Anne practically jumped up from her spot next to Catalina to join Cathy on her couch. She lent into Cathy, but must have reconsidered, because she ended up just sat next to Cathy on the couch. Cathy glanced around the room at the other women, looking anywhere but at Anne. 

“Are you okay Cathy?” Jane asked. Cathy shrugged. 

“Better than I was before. Catalina helped a lot.” She smiled at the older woman. 

“As I told you before mija, there’s nothing for you to worry about.” Catalina reassured her. 

“No one here is gonna judge you for anything you do. We’re family.” Kat chimed in. 

“I just thought…” Cathy paused. Anne placed a hand on her knee. “I was worried you guys would think that we’re moving too fast.” 

“Who are we to judge?” Jane asked. 

“Yeah think of it this way Cath. Some people meet each other on a blind date and then kiss a few hours later. And when people hook up with each other they’ve only known each other for a brief amount of time. You and Annie have spent almost every minute together for the last four days, so technically you’ve known each other for ages compared to people who met like that.” Kat explained.

“Or people who meet from online dating.” Jane added. 

“Going by those standards you should be married with kids by now.” Catalina joked. 

“We have kids already.” Anne reminded her. “Just not the marriage part.” 

“And don’t even think about that one yet.” Catalina smiled. “Now that would be moving fast.” 

Cathy found herself smiling. 

“Thanks guys, I really needed this.” She said. Kat got up and sat down on Cathy’s other side, wrapping her arms around the older girl. 

“No problems, we’re family now, remember? We’re all in this together now.” 

Cathy hugged her back, so thankful to the university for giving her this incredible family.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first day of class for cathy plus some plans to be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: swearing, sexual references, breastfeeding
> 
> the next chapter is finally here 
> 
> hope you enjoy the sneaky little references in this chapter haha
> 
> as always if you liked it make sure to leave a comment, i've hit a bit of writers block and i have no idea how to continue from the last chapter i have written
> 
> enjoy!

Cathy awoke the next morning to her alarm blasting and Mae crying. She rolled out of bed ignoring the alarm in favour of comforting Mae.

“Shh my darling, you’re okay, I’ve got you.” She whispered, lifting the baby out of her bassinet and swaying gently. 

“Cathy, do you want breakfast? I’m making bacon and eggs on toast.” Jane’s voice came from the doorway, and Cathy nodded quickly, her attention still trained on the baby in her arms. 

“Do you need help?” Jane asked, stepping into the room and stopping the alarm. 

“No, I’m okay.” Cathy replied. “Thank you though.”

“No problems, just call out if you need anything.” Jane turned to leave the room and a thought came to Cathy.

“Jane, wait.” The blonde woman stopped, turning back around. 

“Yeah?” She said.

“Could you make me a coffee? I have class in an hour.” Cathy asked. 

“Of course.” Jane replied, before heading out of the room, leaving Cathy to settle Mae.

Twenty minute later Cathy had gotten Mae calmed down, and after changing her nappy and clothes, the two had headed downstairs. 

“Good morning babes.” Anne greeted her as she entered the kitchen. Anne was sat in what had become her regular seat at the table, with Lizzie in the chair next to her. The toddler was clearly dressed for her first day of childcare, her red curls tied up into two pigtails on the top of her head, styled to copy Anne’s hair which was in space buns, like it was almost every day. 

“Everything okay?” Anna asked as Cathy sat down. She nodded. 

“Just a bit flustered.” She replied as Mae squirmed in her arms, practically begging to be fed. 

“How many pieces of toast do you want?” Jane asked. 

“Just the one please. Do you guys mind if I feed Mae?” Cathy replied, directing the last part of her statement to Anne and Anna too. 

“Of course not.” Anna said, and Anne nodded in agreement. Cathy smiled in thanks, unbuttoning her shirt slightly and unclipping her bra to allow Mae to feed. The baby latched on quickly, as Jane placed Cathy’s breakfast and a cup of coffee down in front of her. Cathy smiled up at her in thanks. 

“Have you decided what you’re gonna do with Mae today? You know Jane and I will be happy to look after her.” Anna said, taking a sip of coffee and Cathy nodded, picking up a piece of bacon.

“I’m gonna take her with me today, I think, after the rough start to the morning. I’m sure we’ll be fine. It’s only a lecture, and if I put her in her carrier then she can just sit in the seat next to me quietly. She’ll probably sleep through it anyways.” 

“Only if you’re sure. We’re more than happy to take care of her for you.” Jane said, taking her own seat. 

“Yeah she’ll be fine. Thank you though.” Cathy replied. 

Cathy finished her breakfast quickly and once Mae was done she headed back upstairs to grab her bag before Anne and Lizzie in the kitchen. 

“Ready to go?” She asked. Anne nodded. 

And with a quick goodbye to Jane and Anna, the four of them headed towards the childcare. 

After dropping Lizzie off at the childcare, Cathy, Mae and Anne made it to the walkway between the Arts building and the English building with ten minutes to spare. 

“I should probably head in. I don’t want to be sitting in the very back row.” Cathy said, leaning in to kiss Anne on the cheek. 

“Okay, whoever gets out first waits out here for the other?” Anne suggested, and Cathy nodded. 

“Sounds good. Have fun painting.” She said and Anne grinned. 

“Have fun editing.” She replied, before pressing a gentle kiss to Cathy’s lips and heading into the Art building. Cathy watched her go, before turning and heading into the English building. 

“Room 394.” She muttered to herself, opting to climb the stairs to the third floor. She headed up the stairs quickly, walking down the corridor until she found the correct room. 

Entering the room she headed over to the professor, an elderly woman with short grey hair and a kind looking face. 

“Hello dear what can I do for you?” The professor asked. Cathy smiled. 

“Hi, I just thought I would let you know, I’ve had to bring my daughter to class with me today. She’s asleep right now, and she’ll probably sleep through the whole class, but I just thought I’d tell you.” Cathy said, and the elderly woman smiled at her. 

“No problems dear, whatever you need to do. I’d rather you be here and bring her than not be here at all.” She replied and Cathy thanked her, heading up the stairs and taking a seat, placing Mae in her carrier on the seat next to her. 

The class started shortly after, and Cathy began to take notes, ignoring her phone vibrating in her pocket. 

The professor, who Cathy had found out was named Dr Mayfield, turned back to face the board and Cathy slipped her phone out of her pocket, shaking her head internally when she noticed that she had three snapchat notifications from ThatBoleynBitch. Checking to make sure her phone was well hidden Cathy opened the app and clicked on Anne’s name, trying to hide a smile when a photo of Anne miming giving a blowjob to a paintbrush appeared on her screen. 

She screenshotted the photo quickly, before clicking to the next one, a photo of Anne with a filter on it that placed a pigeon on her head, captioned ‘his name is Stan, he’s Australian’ 

Cathy clicked to the final photo, a photo of Anne pouting captioned ‘miss you already’. Cathy clicked out of the photos, only to find that Anne had messaged her. She clicked on the messages, trying not to laugh at Anne’s texts. 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- you screenshotted my photo you bitch

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- which one was it? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- it better not have been the bj one 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- i swear to fuckin god catherine if it was the bj one... 

**GoldStarParr** \- you know it was 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- fuck you 

**GoldStarParr** \- maybe later

 **GoldStarParr** \- why aren’t you painting? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- oh fuck that was smooth

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- health and safety lesson ugh painting is NOT dangerous this sucks ass i just wanna make a mess

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- how’s your class? 

**GoldStarParr** \- not too bad, my professor was lovely about me having mae here

 **GoldStarParr** \- and the content is pretty interesting 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- that’s good

Cathy looked away from her phone, jotting down a couple more notes so it looked like she was still paying attention, and with a quick glance to check on Mae she turned her attention back to Anne. 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- are you free tonight? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- i wanna take you on a proper date

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- like drive in a car and all 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- cathyyyyyyyyyyy

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- come back i miss you 

**GoldStarParr** \- sorry was taking notes 

**GoldStarParr** \- that sounds amazing, but what about mae and lizzie? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- kitty has always said she’d take care of liz and you know that the other girls will be more than happy to take mae

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- so are we on? 

**GoldStarParr** \- okay deal 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- fuck yeah 

**GoldStarParr** \- classy 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- you know me, anne boleyn, the classy bitch 

**GoldStarParr** \- the classiest bitch i know

Mae stirred in her carrier next to Cathy and the young mother reached her hand out, letting the baby grab on to her finger, giggling quietly as Mae placed it in her mouth. She glanced at the clock. A whole hour had passed already. She scribbled down a few more notes while she waited for Anne to reply. After a few minutes her phone vibrated in her hand. She unlocked it quickly, expecting to find a message from Anne but instead finding a message from Jane to their group chat. 

**UnbreakableJane** \- Hello! Everyone is free at 1pm, meet in the park for a picnic? 

**KitKatMeow** \- sounds good, i’m in a studio just messing around right now so i’m good whenever

 **CatalinadeAragon** \- I’m heading back to the house now, collected a textbook

 **CatalinadeAragon** \- A picnic sounds nice 

**GoldStarParr** \- i’m down too

 **GoldStarParr** \- annie and i finish at the same time and we’ve planned to meet outside the building so we’ll head there after? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- gotta pick up liz first

 **GoldStarParr** \- okay then we’ll get lizzie and then head there

 **UnbreakableJane** \- Awesome. Anna and I will make some sandwiches and snacks and bring some cans of lemonade and we’ll meet where we had lunch the other day. Anything else? 

**CatalinadeAragon** \- No that sounds good

 **GoldStarParr** \- its a date

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- speaking of

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- cath and I need babysitters tonight, anyone want two extra kids? 

**UnbreakableJane** \- I’m happy to take them.

 **CatalinadeAragon** \- Me too

 **KitKatMeow** \- i already said i’m good to take Liz if you need me to

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- ooh anne and cathy going on a date? ;)

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- careful you don’t get cooties

 **GoldStarParr** \- too late for that

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- ew did you guys fuck

 **GoldStarParr** \- WHAT? NO!

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- jeez cleves calm your tits it’s been a week

 **KitKatMeow** \- they kissed anna

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- they kissed me? 

**QueenOfTheCastle** \- jk i know what you meant 

**QueenOfTheCastle** \- also, ew

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- who would want to kiss anne?

 **CatalinadeAragon** \- Cathy clearly 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- who wouldnt want to kiss me

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- i'm fuckin irresistible 

**QueenOfTheCastle** \- HAHAHA

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- that's the funniest joke i've ever heard

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- rude

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- on a more serious note tho

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- anne and cathy really out here getting some in the most convenient way

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- the quickest booty call

 **QueenOfTheCastle** \- just gotta holler up or down the stairs

 **GoldStarParr** \- oh look at that my class is over i’m going now bye

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- wait for me x

 **GoldStarParr** \- of course x

Cathy shut her laptop as the lecture came to an end, slipping it into the side pouch of Mae’s nappy bag before picking up both the bag and Mae’s carrier, before heading out of the building to wait for Anne. She had only been standing there for a couple of minutes when Anne came out of the building, saying goodbye to a blonde girl as she headed over to Cathy. 

“Did you make a friend?” Cathy asked once Anne was close enough to hear her. Anne nodded happily. 

“Her name is Vicki and she’s really fun. We compared schedules and she’s in all of my classes.” She said. “Did you make any friends?” 

Cathy shook her head as the two of them and Mae headed back towards the childcare to collect Lizzie. 

“Sat with Mae and that was it. Oh and then someone decided to text me and distract me from the lecture.” She said and Anne shook her head in fake annoyance. 

“How disgusting, you should really remind Jane to not text while we’re in class.” Cathy rolled her eyes, shoving the taller girl slightly. 

“I meant you, dingus.” She laughed. 

“Me? I would never distract you ever.” Anne said with a fake gasp. 

“Oh really? You distract me by just existing.” Cathy replied, instantly regretting her words. Anne raised an eyebrow.

“You really want me that bad, huh?” She teased as they arrived at the childcare centre. Anne went in, leaving Cathy waiting outside with Mae. 

As she stood she thought about Anne’s texts from earlier. Did she really want to take Cathy on a date that night? She really liked Anne, more than she had ever liked anyone in her entire life. And that scared her. She barely knew the dark haired girl, but here she was, five days into their friendship, already falling head over heels for her. 

“You good Cath?” Anne’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she jumped slightly. 

“Yeah.” She said, but then reconsidered. 

“Actually no. Do you really want to go on a date with me tonight?” 

Anne nodded. 

“Of course I do. I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.” She said, placing Lizzie on the ground so that she could walk on her own. 

“Really?” Cathy questioned, and Anne stopped, grabbing onto Lizzie’s hand so the three year old would stop with her. Once Lizzie stopped Anne turned her attention to Cathy grabbing onto the curly haired girl’s shirt and pulling her in, kissing her roughly. Cathy gasped into Anne’s mouth, her free hand coming up to rest on the other girl’s back. Anne bit Cathy’s lip and Cathy moaned quietly, thankful that there was nobody else around.

“Mama?” Lizzie spoke, bringing them back to reality. They parted and Anne turned her attention to Lizzie. 

“What’s up baby?” She asked, trying to catch her breath. Lizzie pouted. 

“Bored.” She said. Cathy giggled slightly. 

“We’re going to the park to see all of our friends.” Anne told her as they began to walk again. 

They made it to the park a minute or so later, and upon spotting Kat sat on the grass Lizzie took off at a run. 

“Sorry about being a bit full on.” Anne grinned sheepishly. “I just wanted to show you how much I really like you.” 

“I enjoyed it. We should do it again sometime when Lizzie isn’t around to interrupt. And probably when we’re not in public.” Cathy grinned. Anne winked at her.

“That sounds like an amazing plan.” She said, and their conversation died off as they reached the other girls. 

“Welcome lovebirds.” Anna teased as they sat down. Cathy blushed instinctively. Trying to play it off she busied herself with lifting Mae out of her carrier, the baby sleeping again. Seeing her new best friend in Cathy’s arms Lizzie came over, climbing into Cathy’s lap to sit with Mae. 

“Do you want to hold her Liz?” Cathy asked, and Lizzie nodded excitedly. 

Cathy gently placed Mae in Lizzie’s lap, still holding the baby enough that she was safe. 

“Remember, be gentle Lizzie. Mae is only little.” Anne reminded her. Lizzie smiled at Mae, holding her hand out to Mae who latched her hand around Lizzie’s thumb. 

Anna pulled out her phone, quickly taking a photo of the cute scene.

“Look how cute they are.” She cooed, before shaking her head straight away.

“If my friends back in Germany could see me now, being all mushy over babies being adorable, they’d disown me.” She joked. 

“Living with four kids, three of them under the age of four, you’re bound to become clucky.” Jane replied.

"Plus we have some pretty cute kids. And I want a copy of that photo." Anne grinned. Anna nodded, texting the photo to the group chat.

“Anyways, we don’t have long until Kat has to head to ballet so we better eat quick.” Jane said as she opened up a container and offered it around to everyone. 

“They’re peanut butter and jelly. I was going to make ham and cheese but we didn’t have any ham.” She explained. They each took a sandwich that Jane had cut into small triangles. 

“I feel like I’m back at school.” Kat grinned, taking a bite of her sandwich. 

“That’s cause you’re like 12 years old.” Anne joked, flinching when her cousin jabbed at her. 

“Yeah Kitty, why aren’t you at school with Mary right now?” Anna teased. 

“Shut up.” Kat laughed. 

“How was your class Cathy?” Catalina asked Cathy, as Anne, Anna and Kat continued to joke around. Cathy swallowed her mouthful of food before replying. 

“The parts I listened to were pretty good. Someone,” She glanced at Anne. “Started texting me and distracted me from the rest of my class. And then Jane messaged, and I was so caught up with replying and paying attention to my phone I wasn’t really listening to the lecture.” 

Catalina laughed. 

“Looks like you’ll be rewatching that one then.” She said. Cathy agreed. 

“What about you? How was your class?” The younger girl asked. 

“Not too bad honestly. Other than the fact that the textbook was $150.” She rolled her eyes. Anne groaned, overhearing their conversation. 

“Can we not talk about classes? Let’s talk about fun things.” She said. 

“Ooh, I know what we should talk about.” Anna began, a cheeky smile appearing on her face. “Anne and Cathy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” 

“First comes love, then comes marriage.” Kat sang along. “But then no babies in the baby carriage cause they already have two.” 

Cathy looked down at Lizzie who was still sat in her lap “holding” Mae, trying not to blush. 

“We really are back at school.” Jane giggled. Anne pushed Anna playfully. 

“Jealous much?” She teased. The German shoved her back. 

“Of you? Never.” She retaliated. Kat glanced at her phone. 

“Shit I have to go.” She said, jumping up. 

“Thanks for lunch Jane. See you guys later.” She grabbed her bright pink dance bag off the grass and rushed away as the others all called out their goodbyes. 

“Is everyone else done for the day?” Catalina asked. They all nodded. 

Jane pulled two small containers of fruit out of her bag and placed them on the ground in the middle of the group. 

Lizzie eyed them excitedly. 

“Apple bits?” She questioned. Jane opened one of the containers, revealing small slices of apple and Lizzie grinned happily. 

“I remembered you liked them so I brought them for you.” Jane told her as she held out the container to the toddler, who took a slice. 

“Thank you.” Lizzie smiled at Jane, who returned the gesture. 

“You’re most welcome.” She said. 

“How is that the same kid who was saying fuck the other morning?” Anna laughed, and Anne hit her. 

“Don’t or she’ll say it again.” She said and Anna smirked. 

“Oh so I shouldn’t sit here and say fuck fuck fuck over and over again?” She asked and Anne hit her again. Catalina shook her head at the antics, turning to Jane and striking up a conversation about different kinds of fruit. 

“Stop!” She shook her head, and Cathy giggled. 

“Stop what?” Anna asked, feigning innocence.

“I think she wants you to stop saying fuck.” Cathy told Anna, with a grin. 

“So I can’t say fuck then?” Anna clarified, and Anne groaned again. 

"The next person who says fuck is getting evicted." She said.

“My poor ears.” Catalina chimed in. 

“The foul language of you young ones.” Jane added. 

“Jane, you're literally a couple of years older than us.” Anna laughed. Lizzie tugged on Cathy’s shirt and the young mother looked down at her. 

“More apple bits please?” She asked. Cathy smiled, grabbing a couple more slices of apple out and handing them to the toddler. 

“Here you go.” She said. Lizzie grinned.

“Thank you.” She replied, taking them from Cathy before turning her attention back to Mae who had woken and was watching her intently. 

“Hi Mae.” Lizzie said softly, and the baby smiled at her. Lizzie grinned, turning to Cathy. 

“Smile!” She exclaimed. Cathy laughed. 

“Yeah she did smile. She must really like you.” She replied, and Lizzie’s smile got impossibly bigger. She turned back to the baby, who was still watching her, and held out her hand again, which Mae happily gripped onto. 

“You’re being so good with Mae Lizzie.” Anne praised and Lizzie smiled at her mother before quickly turning back to Mae, as if she would miss something important if she looked away for too long. 

Anne rested her head on Cathy’s shoulder and Cathy smiled softly. 

“So about this date of yours…” Jane began, and Cathy and Anne turned their attention to the blonde. “What’s the plan?” 

Cathy turned to Anne who shrugged. 

“Don’t know yet. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing asking.” She grinned. “I’ll figure it out though.” 

“Okay well while you do that, what’s the go with your kiddos?” Catalina asked as Anne pulled her phone out to research potential dates. She moved closer to Anna, who lent in and the two of them started whispering quietly. 

“I know Lizzie will be okay, clearly we just have to give her some apple and let her sit with Mae and she’ll be set, but what about Mae?” Catalina continued, and Cathy hesitated before replying. 

“Honestly I don’t know. I’ve never been away from her before.” She admitted. 

“That’s okay hun. Do you have any bottles pumped for her?” Jane asked and Cathy shook her head. 

“She’s due for a feed in the next hour or so, so I can pump after I feed her.” She suggested. 

“How often is she feeding?” Catalina questioned. 

“Every three to four hours. So if I feed her when we get home, then you guys will probably have to feed her around six thirty? And then I’ll probably be home by the next time she needs to feed.” Cathy told them, and the other two mothers nodded. 

“Easy. We’ll take good care of her, don’t fret. We know what we’re doing.” Catalina assured her, rubbing Cathy’s arm gently. 

“Thank you. I appreciate this so much.” Cathy smiled at them and they both smiled back at her. 

“Anytime mija.” Catalina said. 

“Just promise us you’ll have fun tonight.” Jane added, and Cathy glanced at Anne. 

“Oh trust me, I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so cathy and anne are going on their first official date next chapter!
> 
> leave a comment with a guess of what they might do, i would love to see if anyone guesses correctly haha
> 
> thank you so much for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy and anne head off on their first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: swearing, breastfeeding, derogatory language (i think thats all)
> 
> here we go, the next chapter!
> 
> i'm so excited for next chapter i might not make you wait a week, so let me know if you want to see it earlier than normal haha
> 
> as always leave a comment if you liked the chapter
> 
> enjoy!!!!

A little after six Cathy found herself in the passenger’s seat of Anne’s car, with the older girl refusing to tell her where they were going. 

“Why does it have to be a secret for?” Cathy whined as they turned off the long road that lead to their university campus and entered the town that was situated outside. The town was only small, home to mostly uni students who didn’t want to live on the campus, and young families who had most likely moved there after attending the university. 

“I want it to be a surprise. You’ll find out in like, less than a minute.” Anne replied, turning the radio up so Cathy couldn’t ask any more questions. 

They drove down the main street of the town, Cathy peering out the window trying to figure out their destination while Anne sang along to the radio. 

Anne pulled into a parking spot in front of a medium sized building that looked like a shed, with no markings on the outside that gave away where they were.

Anne climbed out of the car quickly, rushing to open Cathy’s door for her before she could open it herself. 

“And they say chivalry is dead.” Cathy grinned as she climbed out of the car. Anne gave her a cheeky smile. 

“That’s only because men are trash.” She laughed, taking Cathy’s hand and leading her into the building. Cathy gasped and Anne tensed up. Cathy spun her head, looking around, the brightly coloured interior making it very clear as to where Anne had brought her.

“Mini golf!” She exclaimed, excitement clear in her tone, and Anne visibly relaxed. 

“You like it.” She said, and Cathy nodded excitedly. Anne let out a sigh of relief. 

“I was worried it would be too… childish.” She admitted, and Cathy squeezed her hand reassuringly. 

“Of course it’s not Annie. And even if it was, I love childish.” She grinned. Anne led her over to a counter that was clearly the reception. 

“Hi welcome to Hole In One. Do you have a booking?” A young girl behind the counter asked, flicking the mouse of her computer. 

“Yeah we do, booked under Anne Boleyn.” Anne told her and the girl typed before nodding. 

“What colour balls?” She asked, spinning on her chair and reaching for a basket full of golf balls.

“Blue and green please.” Anne told her, smiling at Cathy who thought back to their conversations late the other night. That felt like forever ago. 

Anne finalised the details as Cathy glanced around the room, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety in her stomach as she tried not to think about how Mae was and if she was coping well without her mother. She slipped her phone out of her pocket, quickly checking to see if any of the girls had contacted her. Nothing. That was probably a good sign but it just made her stress even more. Warm tears pricked her eyes as she looked at her wallpaper, a photo of Mae smiling up at her. 

“Babes.” Anne placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly. She looked up from her phone, swallowing to fight back the tears, and she looked at Anne who gave her a knowing look. 

“Do you want something to drink?” Anne asked, handing her a menu and Cathy scanned it quickly. 

“Um…” She cleared her throat. “I’ll just have a coke please.” 

Anne nodded, running her hand down Cathy’s arm. 

“I’ll just order our drinks and I’ll be right back.” She said. 

“Wait, I’ll come with you.” Cathy replied, and Anne smiled, leading her over to the small bar.   
“Hi, can I get a coke and a Bud Light thanks.” Anne ordered, and the bartender nodded, Anne paying quickly before turning back to Cathy as they waited. 

“I forgot how much I hated not drinking for the few months where I breastfed Liz.” Anne said, pulling a face. 

“Why did you stop? If you don’t mind me asking.” Cathy asked, and Anne shook her head to signify that she was fine with it. 

“She wasn’t putting on enough weight, so the doctor suggested starting her on formula, and that worked so I just never went back. It was hard at first because everyone always shames you when you don’t breastfeed, plus I missed having that connection with her, but I knew it was best for her so there was no questioning that I would do it.” She told Cathy. 

“Fair enough.” Cathy replied, hesitating before speaking again. “Is it stupid that I feel like I’m missing a part of me not having Mae here?” Anne wrapped an arm around her as Cathy fought back tears again. 

“Of course not. It’s hard leaving them for the first time, but it gets easier, I promise you. This is the first time you’ve ever been apart from her, and she’s been in your arms for ten weeks and spent nine months in your womb. Everywhere you've been for almost a year she’s been with you. If it wasn’t hard for you it would be concerning.” Anne told her and Cathy smiled softly, kissing Anne’s cheek.

“Thanks Nan.” She whispered as Anne wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped from Cathy’s eyes. 

“Any time. If it feels too much and you just need to get back to her, let me know and we’ll go straight home no problems, okay?” Anne said and Cathy nodded as the waiter brought their drinks over. 

“Okay.” She replied. Anne kissed her softly. 

“Now let’s get our mini golf on.”

As it turned out Cathy was horrible at mini golf. In her defense she hadn’t played in about six years, since her graduation from high school where her and her friends had gone to play mini golf while all of the other kids in their grade went out with fake IDs and drank until they passed out. 

“You good?” Anne asked, placing a hand on Cathy’s shoulder as the two of them waited for the next hole to be vacant. “You zoned out for a moment. Remember what I said.” 

Cathy nodded. 

“Yeah I’m fine, just remembering the last time I played mini golf.” She said. Anne raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh? Any good stories?” She questioned. 

“Honestly not really. It was the day after I graduated from high school, and I went with the three girls I was best friends with. We had a good time, but the memories are kind of tainted now.” She paused. Anne squeezed her hand as a sign to continue.

“When I found out I was pregnant with Mae I was so excited, I told my family straight away and they were… less than pleased. So I called up my friends and asked to meet up at a cafe cause I had good news for them. I told them, expecting they would be just as excited as me and you can probably guess that they weren’t. One of them, the mutual friend between me and Thomas, was pissed that I would try to ‘ruin his life’ with a baby he didn’t want. Another called me a slut. And the third was excited at the time but I never heard from her again after that day.” Cathy explained. Anne pulled her into a quick hug. 

“Babes, they did not deserve you at all.” She whispered into the hug. Cathy smiled. 

“In a way it’s kinda good that no one was excited for me. Everyone told me I would ruin my life keeping her, and that I would be stuck as a single mum with nowhere to go, and that no man would want me, and that just motivated me to prove them wrong.” 

“That’s a good way to look at it.” Anne grinned. Cathy took a step closer to the green eyed girl. 

“Although they were right about one thing.” She whispered. Anne lent in, her breath hot on Cathy’s lips. 

“What?” Anne replied.

“A man doesn’t want me. A beautiful, sexy, gorgeous woman does. And I want her too.” Cathy grinned as Anne closed the gap between them, their lips connecting. Anne’s hands rested on Cathy’s waist as they kissed. After a moment Cathy pulled away, finding that the people ahead of them had moved on. 

“Next hole.” Cathy said, pulling Anne along down the path to the fifth hole. 

“That’s what she said.” Anne giggled, and Cathy rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. 

“You first.” Anne said, and Cathy placed her bright blue ball down on the starting tee. An idea popping into her head Cathy turned to Anne, fluttering her eyes slightly. 

“Can you help me?” She asked sweetly. Anne bit her lip, nodding as she stepped forward, pressing her body against Cathy’s back and wrapping her arms around her. Anne’s hair tickled her neck as she took Cathy’s hands in hers. 

Cathy breathed in and with Anne’s guidance swung and hit the ball, the pair watching as the ball rolled down the path and across a small bridge, stopping as it reached a corner. 

“Not too bad.” Anne muttered, still pressed up against Cathy. Cathy’s stomach fluttered as Anne pressed her lips to Cathy’s neck. 

“I... um… we should probably keep going.” Cathy said, realising how intimate the situation was becoming. Anne stepped back and Cathy moved to the side so that Anne could take her shot, and once she had they made their way to where their balls were waiting. 

Taking her next hit on her own Cathy swung, clipping the side of the ball and giggling slightly as it spun out and bounced off a wall, stopping in almost the exact same place where it had started. 

“I think we need to try minier golf first so that you have a shot at getting somewhere.” Anne teased. “Or bring Lizzie along so you can beat her.” 

Cathy rolled her eyes and hit Anne’s arm playfully. 

“Shut up and take your shot.” She retorted, and Anne laughed, taking her shot, before turning back to Cathy, a cheeky grin on her face. 

“There. Now your turn. And actually try to hit it this time.” 

The rest of the night passed quickly and before Anne and Cathy knew it, it was 10pm and they had finished the course. 

They headed outside after returning their clubs and balls, giggling over nothing. They reached the car and Cathy held her hand out. Anne took it, a confused look on her face. 

“What?” She asked. Cathy laughed. 

“I was holding my hand out for the keys. I’ll drive home.” She said, and Anne gave her an embarrassed look, dropping her hand to retrieve the keys from her pocket. 

“And here I was thinking you just wanted to hold my hand.” She joked, handing the keys to Cathy. 

“Another time.” Cathy giggled, unlocking the car and allowing Anne to open her door for her. 

“You know you don’t have to do that every time, right?” Cathy asked once Anne was buckled into the passengers seat. Anne grinned. 

“I know, but I want to, so you have to just deal with it.” She replied as Cathy started the car. 

“Back home?” Cathy questioned and Anne nodded. Cathy put the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking spot and back onto the main road, before eventually taking a right hand turn onto the long, dark road that lead back to the campus. 

They drove in silence and before they knew it Cathy had pulled into their driveway and was parking Anne’s car behind her own. 

“Here we are.” Cathy said, as Anne practically jumped out of the car to open Cathy’s door for her. Once she did Cathy slid out of the car, turning to head inside to see Mae. 

“Wait.” Anne said, grabbing onto Cathy’s wrist to stop her from going inside. 

“What?” Cathy turned to face her. 

“Every good date has to end with a kiss, right?” Anne asked, and Cathy didn’t even have time to respond before Anne pulled her in, kissing her roughly. Cathy’s hands ran down Anne’s back, resting on the bare skin where her crop top ended and before her skirt started. Their lips moved in sync, in a rushed mess of passion and tongues. She could taste the faint taste of beer on Anne’s tongue. 

“Ew get a room!” A voice called, and they broke apart quickly to find their four roommates standing in the doorway, watching, Anna smirking. Cathy looked at the ground, embarrassment washing over her from being caught with her tongue down Anne’s throat. 

“Fuck off.” Anne replied, grabbing onto Cathy’s hand and squeezing it. Catalina ushered the other girls back inside, leaving them alone again. 

“Thank you for an amazing date.” Anne whispered. Cathy smiled softly, placing a gentle kiss on Anne’s cheek. 

“It was all you.” She replied, and Anne blushed ever so slightly. She cleared her throat, trying to hide her bashfulness. 

“Let’s get you back to your little girl.” She said, and Cathy nodded, reaching out to double check that the car was locked before they headed inside. 

They entered the living room, hands still intertwined, and found four sets of eyes staring at them. 

“Did you have a good time?” Catalina asked, like they hadn’t seen the two of them kissing on the driveway a moment earlier. 

“Of course.” Cathy smiled at Anne. “But I’ll have to let Annie tell you all about it, I miss my baby girl.” 

“She’s in her bassinet but she won’t sleep.” Jane replied, holding out the baby monitor, which Cathy took. She turned back to Anne. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, pressing one last kiss to Anne’s cheek before quickly leaving the room. She headed up the stairs and entered her room, the anxious knot in her stomach leaving when she saw Mae curled up in her bassinet, watching the mobile spin above her, lullabies playing quietly around the room. 

“Hello my darling.” Cathy smiled, reaching in and lifting up the baby, finding comfort in the familiar weight of her little body. Mae squirmed in her arms, whimpering, and Cathy hushed her gently. 

“It’s okay, Mama’s got you. Let’s get you fed and I’ll tell you all about my date.” She said, giggling to herself at her own words. She sat down on her bed, kicking her shoes off, and made quick work of getting Mae comfortable in her arms and beginning to feed the baby. 

“I missed you so much Mae-Mae.” Cathy whispered, gently running her hand across Mae’s soft dark curls. “But I had such a good time with Annie. We went to a place in the town and we played mini golf. And I was a bit sad at first, missing you, but Annie made me feel better.” 

Mae squirmed slightly and Cathy hummed, settling her instantly. 

“One day when you’re bigger maybe I’ll take you to play mini golf so we can create good memories there to erase some old, bittersweet memories. We can go with Anne and Liz, I bet Lizzie would be really good at mini golf. We’ll have so much fun.” 

Having run out of things to say Cathy began to hum a tune as Mae suckled, stopping when she was interrupted by a soft knock at her door. 

“Come in.” She said, and the door opened revealing Kat and Jane. 

“We’re off to bed, but we just thought we’d stop and say goodnight first.” Jane smiled. 

“Me too!” Anna’s voice called across the hallway. “Night Cath.” 

“Night Anna.” Cathy called back. “And night Kat, night Jane.” 

“Goodnight Cathy. Sweet dreams.” Kat grinned before stepping out of the doorway and heading off to her room. 

“How did you go being away from her?” Jane asked, stepping into the room. Cathy gestured for her to sit down and the blonde woman obliged. 

“It was hard, I’ll be honest. There were a few tears shed but Anne was amazing. She told me if I needed to go at any time that it would be fine, plus she helped keep me distracted and kept my mind off stressing about Mae.” Cathy told her. Jane nodded, understanding.

“I was a wreck the first time I left Eddie. I threw up twice from the separation anxiety. But it got a lot better the more that I left him. I’ve never been away from him for more than a few hours but.” She said.

“Yeah Anne said it gets easier. I’ll just have to persevere.” Cathy replied, looking down at the baby in her arms. “If you had told me a year ago that this would be my life I would have laughed. My whole life I’ve always wanted to be a mother, and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real.” 

“I know exactly how you feel.” Jane replied. Cathy looked back up at the blonde. 

“How was she, by the way?” She questioned. Jane smiled. 

“Oh Cathy she was an angel. We fed her just after you guys left and she was out like a light after that. She slept in Kat’s arms for a couple of hours but then she had a bit of a bad dream and woke up and then we couldn’t get her back to sleep no matter what. But she was still perfect, she’s such a quiet baby compared to Eddie.” Jane laughed at the end. Cathy looked down at Mae. 

“You had a bad dream, huh? My poor darling.” She spoke to the baby before looking back up. She smiled softly at Jane. 

“Thank you again for looking after her.” She said and Jane grinned. 

“Any time Cath.” 

Another knock came from the door and the two turned to find Anne standing there, already changed into her pyjamas, her face clean of make-up, her hair in two neat braids, and a very sleepy Lizzie on her hip. 

Jane stood up. 

“I’m gonna go to bed. Night ladies.” She said, wandering out of the room as Cathy and Anne replied with their goodnights. 

Anne came in, placing Lizzie onto the bed before laying down next to Cathy, smiling softly at Mae. 

“I really do miss this age.” She commented. “They’re so dependent on you for everything. Every single day Lizzie is becoming more and more grown up and it almost feels like she’s gonna be off to her own university classes by next week.” Cathy giggled as Mae pulled away from her, indicating that she was full. Cathy lifted her up and placed her in Anne’s arms before pulling her bra back on and standing up. 

“Could you burp her while I get ready for bed?” Cathy asked and Anne nodded happily. With a quick muttered thanks Cathy grabbed her pyjamas and headed across the hall to the bathroom, changing quickly and wiping her makeup off, and tying her hair up into a messy bun before heading back into her room, smiling at the sight of Mae snuggled into in Anne’s arms and Lizzie curled into her mother’s side, her thumb in her mouth as she stared at Mae through sleepy eyes. 

“You look cosy.” Cathy said and Anne looked up. She nodded. 

“Wanna stay the night?” The curly haired girl questioned, sitting back onto the bed. 

“Are you sure?” Anne asked, glancing down at Lizzie. 

“Of course. We’ll all fit easily.” Cathy reassured her and Anne hesitated before giving in. 

“Fine.” She replied, handing Mae back over to Cathy. “But we’re snuggling.” 

Cathy giggled. 

“Deal.” She looked down at Lizzie who had succumbed to her exhaustion, falling asleep with her thumb still in her mouth, her stuffed penguin toy gripped in her arms. Her bright red curls were splayed out around her head, and Cathy had to stop herself from running a hand through them. 

“Do you want to watch a movie?” She asked Anne, looking up. Anne nodded, reaching for the remote that was sat on the end of the bed. 

“Are you logged into the Netflix account?” Anne asked as she clicked on the icon for Netflix, the screen appearing answering her question. She flicked across to Cathy’s name and clicked it, waiting for it to load. 

“We should get under the covers.” Cathy suggested. Anne stood up wordlessly, picking up Lizzie as Cathy did the same, the latter pulling the covers back on the bed for them to climb under. Anne placed Lizzie down in the middle of the bed before sitting back down. 

“Can you hold Mae for a second? We normally do skin to skin time after her late night feed and I…” She trailed off, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. “I need to take my shirt off.” 

Anne nodded, understanding. 

“Don’t worry I won’t peek.” She grinned cheekily. Cathy blushed, handing Mae back to Anne who busied herself taking Mae’s pyjamas off her. 

Cathy hesitated before undoing her pyjama top and putting it onto the bed. 

“It’s stupid cause you’ve seen me topless before when I’ve been feeding her, but this just seems more intimate.” Cathy admitted, sitting down next to Anne and the dark haired girl handed her Mae with her eyes shut to avoid looking. Cathy placed Mae onto her chest and the baby wriggled around before settling with her head over her mother’s heart, and once she was settled Cathy pulled the blanket up around them.

“I get it. Like, you don’t even think twice when you’re breastfeeding, you just whip your tit out cause you know it’s what you have to do.” Anne said, and Cathy giggled at her choice of words.

“But you wouldn’t go around doing that randomly.” Anne finished. 

“You’d probably be arrested.” Cathy laughed and Anne joined in her laughter. 

“You’re probably right about that.” She agreed. They fell into a comfortable silence as Anne flicked through Netflix, eventually settling on an episode of Spongebob. She laid back, resting her head on Cathy’s shoulder as they watched, and Cathy smiled to herself softly, wondering quietly how she had ended up with such an amazing life so quickly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: sexual references/content (like a LOT), swearing, alcohol 
> 
> this is my longest chapter and i just couldn't wait to get it out there so i had to post it early haha, if theres any typos please let me know i edited this half asleep
> 
> please be warned that this chapter does contain sexual content so if you're uncomfortable with that please do not read :)
> 
> also i'm thinking of doing some time skips in a few chapters time because i've run out of ideas lol, so if theres anything you'd like to see please let me know :)
> 
> anyways as always if you liked this chapter please let me know by leaving a comment 
> 
> enjoy!!

The rest of the week passed quickly and before Cathy knew it she was packing Mae’s nappy bag and getting ready to head to her Friday afternoon creative writing class, the class that she was most excited for.

After Anne’s sleepover after their date, the pair had only gotten closer, spending a majority of their time by each other’s side.

Cathy smiled at the thought of the older girl, Anne’s voice echoing up the stairs as she played with Lizzie in the kitchen, waiting for Cathy and Mae to join them. It was only the two of them and their daughters in the house. Anna and Catalina had left earlier that morning to attend their classes, and Jane, Edward and Kat had headed into town to grab coffee and get some more groceries. Which left Anne and Cathy to get ready for their own classes. 

Cathy placed her laptop and a notebook into the nappy bag and slipped it onto her shoulder before glancing around the room, double checking she hadn’t left anything, before lifting Mae out of her bassinet and heading downstairs to Anne and Lizzie. 

“Mae!” Lizzie exclaimed as they entered the kitchen, rushing over to Cathy to see the baby. Cathy took Mae’s tiny hand into hers, waving it at Lizzie who squealed excitedly.

“Ready to go?” Anne questioned, coming over and pressing a soft kiss on Cathy’s exposed shoulder. Cathy nodded, and Anne grinned, grabbing Lizzie’s Peppa Pig backpack off the table and picking the three year old up. Cathy placed Mae in her carrier, clasping the straps around her and together they headed to the door, Cathy locking it behind them. 

“Walk Mama?” Lizzie asked and Anne nodded, placing her down on the ground and taking her hand instead. Lizzie reached out and grabbed Cathy’s hand with her other hand, linking the three of them. 

“What are you doing today Lizzie?” Cathy asked as they walked. The three year old had been buzzing after her first two days at childcare, making plenty of friends (and plenty of messes) so far. Lizzie pulled a face as she thought. 

“Painting.” She decided. Anne grinned. 

“You’re gonna be a little artist, just like Mama.” She said and Lizzie shook her head. 

“I be duckie.” She told Anne, who bit back a grin. 

“You wanna be a duckie when you grow up?” She asked, and Lizzie nodded enthusiastically. 

“Well I think that’s a great idea.” Cathy told her and the toddler smiled happily. 

They passed the school and Lizzie pulled her hand away from Cathy to wave to the closed building. 

“Bye Mary.” She giggled. Cathy couldn’t help but smile, especially when Lizzie grabbed onto her hand again. 

They reached the childcare not long after and Lizzie pulled the two of them into the building and down the hallway to the toddler room. 

“Hi Lizzie!” Melissa, the lady at the front desk greeted her. 

“Hi!” Lizzie replied, before turning to Anne, who crouched down next to her. 

“Bye Mama love you.” She said. 

“Bye baby, be good, okay?” Anne replied, kissing her head. “I love you too, I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Lizzie grinned, tuning to Cathy. 

“Bye Cathy!” She said. She stood up on her toes to see Mae in her carrier, so Cathy lowered it to her height. 

“Bye Mae. Miss you.” She whispered, placing a gentle kiss on Mae’s head. Anne finished signing her in and with one last wave to them she was off into the room. 

“My turn” Anne grinned, grabbing onto Cathy’s hand just like Lizzie had, as they headed towards the door. Cathy giggled as Anne pushed open the door to the childcare centre. They exited the building and made their way back onto the road. 

“So what class do you have?” Cathy asked. 

“Photography.” Anne replied. “You?” 

“Creative writing. The one I’ve been waiting for.” Cathy told her as they reached the walkway between their buildings. 

“Meet here after class again?” Anne questioned. Cathy nodded. They kissed gently. 

“Anne!” A voice called, and they broke apart to find the blonde girl who Anne had been talking to the first day of classes heading towards them, a dark haired girl in tow. 

“Hey Vicki.” Anne greeted her. “This is Cathy.” 

Vicki smiled at her. 

“Nice to meet you. Anne doesn’t shut up about you.” She laughed and Anne rolled her eyes.  
“Shut up.” 

Vicki gestured to the girl behind her. 

“This is Grace.” She introduced. “She’s my roommate.” Grace waved. 

“Grace, this is Anne and her girlfriend Cathy.” Vicki said, not seeing Cathy and Anne’s reactions to the use of the word girlfriend. As if she wanted to be noticed Mae let out a soft whimper and Cathy instantly turned her attention to the baby. 

“Oh yeah, this is Mae.” Anne told them. 

“Aw she’s so precious.” Grace cooed. 

“We should probably get to class. Do you have a class now Grace?” Anne asked. Grace nodded. 

“Yeah I have a creative writing class.” She said and Cathy’s head shot up. 

“In room 203?” She asked. Grace glanced at some writing on her hand before nodding. 

“Awesome, we’re in the same class.” Cathy grinned. 

“Well now you have a friend.” Grace smiled back. Vicki patted Grace’s arm. 

“Told you you’d make a friend Gracie.” She said. “Anyways, to class we go. Nice meeting you Cathy.” Cathy smiled at her. 

“You too.” She replied. Anne gave her a quick peck on the cheek. 

“Bye babes.” She said, before directing her attention to Mae. “Bye Mae-Mae. Be good for your Mama.” 

The two of them headed into their class leaving Grace, Cathy and Mae on their own. 

“Let’s get in there then.” Grace grinned, and together they headed to their class.

They walked into the room finding it almost empty. 

“Are we in the right place?” Grace asked her. Cathy nodded. 

“Have to be. There’s no way we both got this wrong.” She replied, looking around and spotting the teacher at the front of the room. 

“Excuse me, is this the creative writing class?” She asked and the teacher nodded. 

“It sure is.” He replied. “Names?” 

“Catherine Parr and Grace…” Cathy trailed off. 

“Mouat.” Grace finished for her. He looked down at a list of names. 

“Catherine Parr and Grace Mouat.” He repeated. “Ah yep here you are.” 

He placed a tick next to each of their names before noticing Mae. 

“Oh hello darling.” He said in a sweet tone. “What’s her name?”

“Mae.” Cathy told him. He smiled. 

“My husband and I just welcomed a baby boy a few weeks ago. If you need someone to hold her while you work I’m more than happy to. Don’t hesitate to ask.” He told Cathy who smiled appreciatively. 

“Thank you.” She replied. He nodded once. 

Cathy and Grace moved away, choosing a table off to the side of the room and sat down, pulling their supplies out. Cathy pulled out Mae’s dummy and offered it to the baby who latched onto it quickly. 

“She’ll be out like a light in five minutes tops.” Cathy laughed. Grace smiled at her. 

“I’ve always wanted a baby but they look like such hard work. I admire you so much for being able to look after her and still work on being educated.” She said and Cathy blushed at the compliment. 

“Thank you, that means so much to me. As for being hard work, I guess it is but it’s so rewarding that it makes up for it. Sure some nights I might get less than an hour sleep because she’s up the entire night crying and fussing, but the next day she’ll be curled up in my arms sleeping or she’ll smile when I talk to her and it makes all the hard times worth it.” Cathy told her. 

“That’s beautiful, I can see why you’re studying writing… You are studying writing, right?” Grace questioned and Cathy nodded. 

“What about you?” She asked. 

“I’m a theatre major. We have to take creative writing as a part of a script writing thing which is so stupid because if I wanted to be a script writer I would be studying that and not theatre.” Grace replied, rolling her eyes to emphasise her point. Cathy giggled. 

“I think we’re going to be good friends Grace.” She said. Grace smiled. 

“I really hope so.” 

An hour and a half into their class Cathy’s phone vibrated from her lap. She glanced down, rolling her eyes when she found that it was a snapchat from Anne. Ignoring it she turned her attention back to her writing activity she was meant to be completing where the teacher, who had introduced himself as Ben, had given them three random items that they had to include in their writing. She had already incorporated a phone case and a hairbrush into her work, but she was having a hard time figuring out how to link to the photo frame. Her phone vibrated again, and then once more a few seconds later. Giving in she unlocked her phone and opened up snapchat. 

The first photo was a photo of Anne, Vicki and a third girl Cathy hadn’t seen before, but assumed was Maggie, a girl Anne had met the previous day, pretending to sleep in the back of their class. Cathy nudged Grace, showing her the photo and she giggled. 

The other photo was of Vicki standing in the middle of the common area where the food outlets were, with the caption ‘we escaped to do photos’. Cathy opened up her chat with Anne to read the message she had sent. 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- want a coffee?

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- we were released from the horrible confines of a classroom to take photos and we’re not going back lol 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- so i thought you might like coffee

 **GoldStarParr** \- yes please x

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- your wish is my command

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- same as the other day? nilla latte two sugars? 

**GoldStarParr** \- that’s it x

 **GoldStarParr** \- thank you nan x 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- no problems at all x

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- does grace want anything?

Cathy put her phone down and quickly scribbled down an ending to her story before getting Grace’s attention. 

“Do you want a coffee?” She asked quietly. Grace thought for a moment before shaking her head. 

“I’m good thanks.” She replied. Cathy nodded before unlocking her phone again and opening her chat with Anne. 

**GoldStarParr** \- grace is good

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- lit 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- so just one coffee for the most attractive woman on the planet

 **GoldStarParr** \- oh you’re getting yourself a coffee?

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- fuck that was smooth parr 

**GoldStarParr** \- i have my moments x 

“Okay guys time is up, I see most of you are finished.” Ben spoke, attracting Cathy’s attention back to him. 

He stood up from his chair. 

“I think we’ll call it a day. Write your name on the top of your work and leave it on the front desk as you leave and next week I’ll reveal my favourite.” He said. “Thanks guys.”

There was a chorus of thank you’s from the class and Cathy packed her notebook up quickly, tearing out the page she had been working on and scribbling her name at the top. 

She slid her pen and notebook into the nappy bag and stood up, stretching slightly. In her carrier Mae whimpered, so Cathy unclipped her and lifted her out. Once in her mother’s arms Mae settled instantly. 

Grace stood up from her seat once she had packed up and grinned at Cathy. 

“Honestly that was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to the rest of this course.” She said. Cathy smiled back at her. 

“Me too.” She agreed, slipping Mae’s nappy bag into her deserted carrier and picking it up with her spare hand. Grace grabbed her page of writing off the desk for her and they headed towards the front of the room. 

“See you ladies next week.” Ben smiled as Grace placed their work on the pile. 

“Bye.” They said in sync, giggling afterwards, heading out of the classroom and into the hallway. Cathy’s phone rung in her bag and she looked down helplessly. 

“Here let me take the carrier.” Grace offered. Cathy smiled appreciatively as she handed it to Grace, who held it out as she pulled her phone from her bag. 

“Anne.” She told Grace when she saw the caller ID, clicking the answer button. 

“Good thing I just got out of class.” Cathy said into the phone. 

“What, no hello?” Anne teased. Cathy rolled her eyes and Grace giggled. 

“Hi Nan. What’s wrong?” She asked. Anne laughed. 

“We’re outside your building with a nice hot coffee for you.” She told her and Cathy couldn’t help but smile. 

“We’re heading out now.” She told her as they walked down the stairs. “I can see you.” 

“Bit fucking creepy.” Anne giggled. They made their way over to Vicki, Anne and the other girl, and Cathy hung up her phone, slipping it into her back pocket. 

“Your coffee, gorgeous.” Anne held out the coffee for Cathy to take. Cathy hesitated. 

“Wanna swap?” She asked, nodding to Mae in her arms and Anne nodded enthusiastically. Vicki took the coffee from Anne so that Cathy could give her the baby, and then Cathy took her coffee from Vicki and Mae’s carrier back from Grace. 

“All set.” She laughed. 

“Now all we need is Liz and we’re good to go.” Anne replied. “Oh this is Maggie by the way, I met her yesterday, remember? Mags this is Cathy and Mae.” 

“And this is Grace, my roomie.” Vicki finished the introductions. Cathy smiled at Maggie, the young girl returning her smile. 

“Before we go, can I get your number Cathy? Or even snapchat for now if it’s easier?” Grace asked. 

“I’ll give you snapchat cause I don’t know my number off the top of my head.” Cathy laughed. “It’s GoldStarParr. Two r’s for Parr.” 

Grace typed into her phone and a few seconds later Cathy’s phone vibrated in her pocket. 

“Great, I’ll see you next week then.” Grace grinned. After exchanging goodbyes the group split, with Anne, Cathy and Mae heading back to the childcare and Vicki, Grace and Maggie heading back to the dorm building. 

“How was photography?” Cathy asked as they headed down the road to the childcare center. 

“It was good. For the first hour we’re in the room and then the second hour we’re allowed to go out and take photos. We don’t have to go back to the room but we have to upload at least three photos by the end of the class, no matter how good or bad they are.” Anne told her. “What about you, did you enjoy creative writing?” 

“I loved it.” Cathy admitted. “And Grace is so lovely. I think we’re going to be really good friends.” 

“I’m glad. Vicki said Grace was worried about making friends at uni, and the only people she had spoken to other than Vicki were a couple of girls in her theatre class who she was teamed up with.” Anne said. 

“Well she can add me to that tally.” Cathy laughed as they arrived at the door to the childcare, thankful that the door was propped open since neither of them had hands to open it. 

They headed down the hallway to the toddler room, waiting at the reception for someone to come out. 

“Hello, are you Elizabeth’s guardian?” A woman asked, entering the hallway from the toddler room. She was a different woman to the one who had been there the last few times. 

Anne nodded. 

“I’m her mother.” She replied. The lady smiled. 

“A little ball of energy that one.” She said, grabbing the signout sheet for Anne. 

“Here, I’ll take Mae.” Cathy said, placing the carrier on the floor and her coffee onto the bench for the time being. 

“Okay but I’m taking her straight back. I want more baby cuddles.” Anne told her, handing the baby over. Cathy laughed, trying to hide her excitement that she finally had someone in her life who wanted to hold and dote on her daughter. Anne signed Lizzie out and the woman checked her signature. Satisfied, she headed back into the room to get the toddler. Anne spun around to face Cathy, holding out her arms and pouting. 

Cathy giggled, handing Mae back to her. 

“You dork.” She teased. Anne gasped. 

“Quiet, you’ll ruin my reputation as the baddest bitch who ever lived.” She replied. Mae squirmed in her arms and she soothed her easily. The woman opened the door and Lizzie came out quietly, her backpack on her back. 

“Goodbye Elizabeth, see you next week.” The woman said, before heading back into the room. 

“What’s wrong baby?” Anne asked. Lizzie pouted. 

“Wanna go now.” She told them. Anne and Cathy exchanged a look and Cathy sculled the last of her coffee before Anne handed Mae back to her. Anne lent down, lifting Lizzie up and placing her on her hip, and picked the carrier up off the floor.

“Wanna tell Mama what’s up?” Anne asked as they headed out of the door, Cathy throwing her now empty coffee cup away so she could hold Mae better. 

“No.” Lizzie pouted. A concerned look appeared on Anne’s face. 

“Baby…” She whispered. Lizzie took one look at her mother’s face and burst into tears. Anne stopped, placing the carrier down so she could move Lizzie around and hold her tightly, whispering into the toddler’s ear. After a moment Lizzie calmed down, lifting her head up from Anne’s shoulder. 

“Okay now Mama.” She hiccuped. Cathy’s heart broke as she watched the normally bubbly toddler with her tear stained face and sad eyes. 

“Can you tell me what’s wrong now?” Anne asked. 

“He said my hair yucky. And Miss Jasmine call me ‘Lizabeth, but I be good Mama. I promise.” Lizzie said, holding onto Anne’s shirt. Anne’s eyes narrowed.

“Who said your hair was yucky?” She asked. 

“Jacob.” Lizzie told her. “He said yucky red hair.” 

“Listen to me Lizzie. Your hair is beautiful. So many people would love to have your hair colour, it makes you look like a little princess.” Anne said, and Lizzie smiled. “And Mama will make sure she tells Miss Jasmine you like being called Lizzie, and that you only get Elizabeth when you’re being naughty.” 

“Thank you Mama.” Lizzie wrapped her arms around Anne’s neck. “Love you.” 

“I love you too baby. You wanna go home and have a bubble bath?” Anne asked and Lizzie grinned, her sadness already forgotten. 

“Yeah!” She grinned. 

“And maybe Jane will let you help her cook dinner tonight.” Anne added, watching Lizzie’s face light up. 

“Let’s go!” She grinned happily, and Anne smiled back at her before glancing over at Cathy. Cathy smiled softly and Anne’s smile grew. 

“Back to the house we go then.” 

Lizzie practically sprinted through the front door once they arrived home, heading through the living room and down the hallway before Anne and Cathy had even made it inside. 

Anne laughed, following her in and placing Mae’s carrier next to her pram in the corner of the room with the other baby things, grabbing the nappy bag out and slipping it over her shoulder with her own bag. 

“You can have her back if you want.” Cathy offered. Anne nodded quickly. 

“Yes please.” She replied, reaching out to take Mae. 

“Mama!” Lizzie’s voice called from upstairs. Anne sighed. 

“Nevermind.” 

They entered the kitchen side by side, finding Catalina and Kat sat at the table. 

“Your mini me is calling you Anne.” Catalina informed her. Anne nodded.

“I know. I promised her a bubble bath, she had a bad day.” Anne replied. 

“Oh no, did something happen?” Kitty frowned. Anne placed Cathy’s bag onto the table. 

“Some asshole kid told her she had yucky hair, and her teacher was calling her Elizabeth the whole time, which she only gets when she’s in trouble, so she thought she was in trouble for no reason.” She told them. 

“Oh no the poor thing.” Catalina frowned. “That must have been the worst.”

“I kinda promised her she could help Jane cook.” Anne said. Catalina smiled. 

“I’m sure Jane won’t mind that, she’s upstairs putting Edward down for a nap.” She told her. 

“I’ll ask her on the way then.” Anne smiled at the older woman. 

“Mama!” Lizzie called again. 

“Coming!” Anne called back before turning to Cathy. “Cath save some baby snuggles for me please.” 

Cathy nodded. 

“Of course.” She replied, and Anne rushed up the stairs to Lizzie. Cathy sat down at the table next to Kat. 

“How was your class mija?” Catalina asked. Cathy smiled. 

“It was good. I made a friend, her name is Grace, she’s roommates with one of the girls Anne met, Vicki.” She told her. 

“Oh lovely.” Catalina smiled. 

“I helped Jane with Edward all day, it was so much fun.” Kat grinned. “And Anna said we can have a tv binge night tonight, just the two of us.” 

“Oh that sounds like fun.” Cathy grinned. Mae squirmed in her arms. 

“Okay, feeding time.” Cathy said, standing up, and with a quick wave she left the two of them at the table and headed upstairs with Mae. 

Later that evening Cathy headed up the stairs to the attic on a mission to find Anne and Lizzie, Mae secured in her arms. 

“Knock knock.” She called as she headed up the stairs. 

“Mae?” Lizzie called out. Cathy couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Mae’s here.” She replied, entering the room. 

It was the first time Cathy had been in Anne and Lizzie’s room. It was slightly larger than Cathy’s room, but was by no means a large room. Anne’s bed was next to the staircase, facing a TV that was hung on the wall, and there was a smaller bed off to the side that was clearly for Lizzie. A desk was pushed up against the far wall, covered with sketches and paper, and there was an easel in the corner with a blank canvas on it. While Cathy’s room was decorated with blue walls and trinkets, Anne’s was filled with accents of emerald green. 

Anne and Lizzie were curled up on the bed, Peppa Pig playing on the TV. Upon seeing Cathy, Anne smiled, patting a spot on the bed next to her, which Cathy happily hopped into. Lizzie peered over at Mae who was squirming in Cathy’s arms. 

“Hi Mae.” She said happily. Cathy transferred Mae into Anne’s arms, smiling as Lizzie climbed onto her mother to get closer to the baby. Mae snuggled into Anne, turning her head towards the dark haired girl’s chest and opening and closing her mouth a couple of times. Anne giggled. 

“Someone’s hungry.” She said. Cathy handed her the bottle she had brought up with her. 

“Thought you might want to feed her so you can have your baby snuggles.” She said and Anne’s eyes lit up as she placed the bottle to Mae’s mouth, the baby latching on instantly. 

“Mae’s milk?” Lizzie questioned, resting her head on her mother’s chest so she could watch Mae. 

“Yeah, Mae’s having her dinner.” Anne told her. 

“Speaking of.” Cathy said and Anne shifted her attention to Cathy. “So you probably know but Jane and Catalina have gone into town for dinner with Edward and Mary, and Anna and Kat are in Anna’s room watching Brooklyn 99 and ordered pizza, so they won’t bother us. I got them to get us a cheese pizza, I couldn’t remember what you guys ate so cheese was a safe bet.”

“Cheese is great, Lizzie’s favourite.” Anne grinned. “Mine is meatlovers.” She winked. 

“Huh, ironic.” Cathy played along. 

“What? Just because you make me extremely gay doesn’t mean I’ve always been like this.” Anne laughed. “I just have a massive gay spot for curly haired cute girls named Catherine Parr.”

“A very specific type.” Cathy grinned. 

“Anyways, I thought maybe after dinner we could bake cookies or something? Lizzie could help since she didn’t get to help Jane cook.” The curly haired girl suggested. Lizzie’s head shot up at the mention of baking cookies. 

“Cookies?” She asked. Cathy nodded. 

“Wanna help me make some?” 

Lizzie glanced at her mother for approval and when Anne nodded Lizzie grinned widely. 

“Yes please.” She said sweetly. Cathy returned her smile. 

“Then it’s settled. After dinner we’ll get our bake on.” 

Their pizza arrived not long after that, and once they were finished Cathy stood up, placing the empty pizza box into the bin. She walked back over to the table and picked Lizzie up, carrying her over to the sink.

“Let’s wash those hands.” She said, flicking the tap on and letting the water run over Lizzie’s hands before helping the toddler wash them with soap. Anne came over, Mae still in her arms, now fast asleep. 

“I’m gonna put Mae in her bed, what do you normally do?” Anne asked. Cathy switched the water off. 

“Just put her down and flick the baby monitor on and bring the handset down with you.” She instructed. Anne nodded, heading up the stairs with Mae. Cathy put Lizzie down, opening the cupboard and pulling out the basic ingredients that they would need.

“What kind of cookies should we make Lizzie?” She asked, placing the ingredients onto the bench. 

“Choc chip.” Anne said, re-entering the room. Cathy turned to face her. 

“That’s weird, you don’t sound like Lizzie.” She said, pulling a face. Lizzie giggled. 

“Choc chip.” She repeated to Cathy, who obeyed, pulling the chocolate chips out of the cupboard. 

“Okay, first step is to preheat the oven.” Cathy told the two Boleyn girls, switching the oven on and setting the temperature. 

“I mix?” Lizzie asked. 

“We have to put the ingredients in first.” Cathy said. Anne dragged a chair over to the counter for Lizzie to stand on as Cathy measured out each ingredient and placed them on the bench. 

“Okay Lizzie, you ready?” Anne asked and Lizzie nodded excitedly. 

The three of them worked together, quickly mixing the ingredients and spooning the small balls of cookie dough onto a tray. Once they were done Cathy placed the tray into the oven and set the timer for twenty minutes. 

Anne glanced at the time and frowned. 

“It’s almost bedtime Liz.” She said. 

“Bit longer Mama?” Lizzie asked, pouting. Cathy copied her face. 

“Yeah, bit longer mama?” She mimicked. Anne giggled. 

“Fine but as soon as the cookies are done you’re in bed, deal?” She compromised and Lizzie nodded in agreement. Anne grabbed the mixing bowl, placing it in the sink and Cathy collected the ingredients they didn’t use and put them back into the cupboard, all while Lizzie helped by sitting on the floor eating chocolate chips out of the bag, and before they knew it the timer was going off for the cookies to come out of the oven. 

Cathy pulled the tray out, placing it safely on the bench. 

“I see?” Lizzie asked, standing on her toes to see the tray, so Anne picked her up. 

“Hot.” Anne warned, and Lizzie nodded. 

“I have one? Please?” She asked. Cathy glanced at Anne for reassurance before choosing a smaller cookie and picking it up, blowing on it to cool it down to a temperature that the three year old could handle. 

“Thank you.” Lizzie grinned as she took the cookie from Cathy. 

“Okay you’ve got your cookie, now it’s bedtime.” Anne said as Lizzie ate the cookie with a happy smile on her face. “Say goodnight to Cathy.” 

“Night night Cathy.” Lizzie smiled sweetly, chocolate surrounding her mouth. 

“Goodnight Lizzie, sweet dreams.” Cathy replied, and Anne carried her out of the kitchen, leaving Cathy alone in the kitchen. 

She grabbed a plate out, placing two cookies onto it before putting the rest into a container and putting them into the fridge, noting that she had a few spare pre-pumped bottles for Mae. Pausing to think for a moment Cathy grabbed two wine glasses out of the cupboard, placing them on the bench and filling them halfway with red wine. Just as she placed the bottle back into the fridge Anne reentered the room. Cathy grabbed the glasses, offering one to Anne.

“Feeling adventurous are we?” Anne commented, taking the glass from Cathy with a grin.

“It’s only one glass and there’s already a bottle in the fridge I can give her tonight so the next time I actually have to feed her the alcohol will be gone from my system.” Cathy replied. Anne laughed. 

“Fair enough. It’s been a long week, you deserve a treat.” She said. They headed into the media room, Anne grabbing the remote as Cathy settled into one of the couches, Anne snuggling into her once the TV was on and playing a random show in the background, the two of them more interested in each other than the TV. 

“This is nice.” Cathy spoke after a moment of quiet. Anne nodded against her shoulder. 

“It is. We should make this a weekly thing.” She agreed.

Cathy took a sip of her wine. 

“I haven’t had any alcohol since I found out I was pregnant with Mae. I was never a really big drinker but the one thing I have missed is wine night with the girls.” She said. 

“Well we can do wine night whenever you want as long as you have a plan for Mae.” Anne told her, and they settled into a comfortable silence, watching the TV. 

Cathy finished her glass of wine quickly, the effects of not drinking for almost a year, on top of not being a big drinker, hitting her as the wine left her feeling slightly buzzed. Not drunk, by any means, just slightly less sober than a normal person would have been after one glass of wine. 

She placed the empty glass onto the coffee table in the middle of the room and lent back into Anne, electricity flowing through her body at the slight touch. 

“You good?” Anne asked, placing her own empty glass next to Cathy’s. Cathy nodded. 

“Got that warm and fuzzy feeling.” She giggled. Anne grinned. 

“Don’t tell me you’re a lightweight.” She teased. Cathy laughed again. 

“Maybe a little.” She replied. She sat up, her attention focused fully on Anne and how badly her tipsy brain wanted the other girl. 

“Cathy…” Anne trailed off as Cathy climbed on top of Anne, straddling her waist and leaning in, connecting their lips quickly. Cathy’s hands made their way down Anne’s back, grabbing onto her shirt as the kiss intensified. Anne had one hand on Cathy’s waist, and the other was tangled in the younger girl’s curls. 

Anne tugged on Cathy’s hair and Cathy moaned at the sensation that it sent through her body, allowing Anne full access to slide her tongue into Cathy’s mouth.

Desperate for more contact Cathy grinded her hips down into Anne’s, and Anne gasped, pulling away from the kiss, breathing heavily. 

“Fuck Cathy.” She said between breaths. Cathy looked at her through her lashes. 

“I want you so bad.” Cathy whispered and Anne pulled her back in, connecting their lips in another passionate kiss. After a moment Anne pulled away, looking at Cathy hesitantly. 

“Do you really want this? You’re not drunk, right?” She questioned. Cathy’s heart fluttered, she’d never had anyone care enough to ask that before. 

“Slightly tipsy.” She admitted. “But sober enough to know that I want this.” Anne stared at her for a few seconds before nodding. 

“Okay.” She said, before pulling Cathy back down and crashing their lips together once again. 

They were so caught up in each other’s lips and grinding against each other like hormonal teenagers, that they didn’t hear the door open. 

“Jesus, can you two not have sex in the media room?” Anna’s voice caused them to break apart quickly, looking over at Anna and Kat with guilty looks on their faces.

“Shut up.” Anne replied. Cathy was silent, opting to catch her breath instead.

“Kitty’s poor eyes.” Anna wrapped her arm around the younger girl. “Scarred for life.”

“Maybe you should’ve knocked then.” Cathy suggested, her head still foggy from the alcohol and lust. 

“We did. You two were too busy dry humping and trying to swallow each other to hear.” Anna told them. Kat giggled. 

“Knock louder.” Anne bit back. Cathy climbed off Anne and the older girl stood up.

“I’m going to bed, I’ll text you Cathy.” She began to walk out of the room but stopped just after she passed Anna and Kat, turning back around to face them. 

“Oh by the way Anna, nice lipgloss. Never pegged you for the sparkly pink gloss type.” She gave them a knowing look before leaving. Kat blushed bright red and Anna glanced around the room awkwardly. Cathy stared at them for a moment before slowly standing up, mentally facepalming when she stumbled slightly. 

“I’m gonna go.” She said, grabbing the two empty glasses and the empty cookie plate and heading into the kitchen, Anna and Kat closing the door to the media room behind her. Anne was sat at the table, waiting. 

“Took you long enough.” She teased. Cathy rolled her eyes. 

“How did you know they’d been kissing?” Cathy asked as she rinsed the glasses and plate and placed them off to the side to be washed later on. 

“Well first of all it was the lipgloss. Anna is not a lipgloss gay. Plus they were holding hands so that was kind of a dead giveaway that something’s going on. That and I know my cousin and she’s been eyeing Anna since she arrived.” Anne said, coming over and wrapping her arms around Cathy’s waist. Cathy turned around, causing their bodies to be pressed together. 

“Hi.” Cathy whispered, Anne’s breath hot on her lips. Anne smiled, leaning in and connecting their lips, and for the second time that evening Cathy found herself lost in Anne’s kiss, their hands roaming each other’s bodies. Anne pressed her against the counter, their bodies flush against each other. They broke apart, gasping for air. 

“Jeez, we’re horny tonight.” Anne joked, barely finishing her statement before Cathy kissed her again, slipping her tongue into the older girl’s mouth. Anne moaned quietly and Cathy felt her stomach flutter at the sound. 

Someone cleared their throat and they pulled apart to find Jane, Catalina, Mary and Edward standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Catalina’s hands covering the twelve year old’s eyes. 

“Why does everyone want to interrupt us tonight?” Anne groaned, taking a step away from Cathy. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t make out in the kitchen then?” Jane suggested, going over to the fridge and placing a container of leftover food into it. 

“You know what, you’re right.” Anne agreed. Before Jane shut the fridge Anne reached in, grabbing a beer and a bottle of water. She handed the water to Cathy before grabbing her free hand. 

“Night guys.” Anne called, dragging Cathy towards the stairs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning around to face Jane and Catalina again. 

“Oh and just a heads up, maybe don’t go into the media room unless you want to walk in on two lots of people making out tonight.” And with that she dragged Cathy up the stairs. 

“Your room? Lizzie will be fine on her own.” She asked. Cathy nodded, opening the door to her room, leading Anne in. 

Anne pushed the door shut behind her, letting go of Cathy, who went over to check on Mae, who was sleeping soundly in her bassinet. Anne sat down on Cathy’s bed, watching her. 

“So…” Cathy began awkwardly, turning to face Anne. “Are we gonna have sex?” 

Anne giggled, opening her beer and taking a mouthful. 

“If you want to.” She replied. “But don’t feel like we have to. You control how fast we go with this friends who kiss thing.” 

Cathy climbed onto the bed next to her. 

“I want to.” She said in a low voice. “But I’ve never…” She trailed off. “Not with a woman.” Anne kissed her softly. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll show you exactly what you need to do. Just…” She hesitated. “Think about what makes you feel good and chances are it will work for me too.” 

Cathy nodded, her heart racing. She lent in to kiss Anne, the kiss more gentle and passionate than their earlier makeout session. Their lips moved in sync as Anne guided Cathy so that she was lying down on the bed, Anne hovering over her. 

“You’re one hundred percent sure?” Anne checked one last time, pulling away from the kiss. Cathy nodded. 

“I want this Anne. I want you.” She replied, and Anne smiled, kissing her once again. 

She let Anne take the lead, knowing that the older girl would never do anything to hurt her or make her uncomfortable. 

"Can I take off your clothes?" Anne asked softly, her lips pressed against Cathy's neck, presumably leaving a mark that Cathy would struggle to cover the next morning. 

"Yes." Cathy replied simply, and Anne obeyed, pulling Cathy's hoodie over her head, revealing her naked body. Anne's eyes raked her body, and Cathy fought the urge to cover her bare chest. 

"No bra?" Anne questioned. Cathy nodded. 

"Easier to feed Mae." She explained. Anne kissed her. 

"Easier for me." She grinned cheekily. Cathy rolled her eyes slightly as Anne pulled her own shirt and sports bra off, before removing both of their shorts, leaving them fully naked.

"You're beautiful." Anne whispered, kissing Cathy softly.

"So are you." Cathy replied. She ran a hand through Anne's hair pulling the older girl back down to kiss her again. 

And later that night Cathy fell asleep pressed up against Anne, their naked bodies intertwined, feeling safe and content.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the morning after, plus a day at the pool for the whole family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: sexual references, swearing, breastfeeding, tiny bit of angst (if you could even call it that)
> 
> sorry about the delay of this chapter, i was hesitant to post this because i'm running out of prewritten chapters and i really don't like most of this chapter... 
> 
> sorry about the shit ending i didn't know how to end it... 
> 
> good news is the next two chapters i have written i really love haha
> 
> hopefully you like this a bit more than i did, feel free to leave a comment if you liked it
> 
> enjoy :)

Cathy woke the next morning curled into Anne’s arms, their legs a tangled mess, and her head pressed against Anne’s naked chest. 

“Good morning.” Anne spoke. Cathy smiled. 

“Good morning indeed.” She flirted. Anne raised an eyebrow. 

“Early morning flirting? Sounds like my kind of morning.” She grinned. “I hate to ruin this cute snuggle moment we’re having but I might actually explode from excess energy if I can’t move soon. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for about an hour.” Cathy lifted her head up, untangling herself from Anne and watching the older girl as she climbed out of the bed to find her clothes. 

The early morning sunlight that was creeping in through the curtains shone on Anne’s naked body, seemingly making her glow. 

“Like what you see?” Anne teased, noticing Cathy watching her every move. Cathy blushed slightly, but nodded. Anne pulled her pyjama pants on, and grabbed her shirt, hesitating with it in her hands. Clearly deciding against it she grabbed Cathy’s hoodie from the floor and pulled it on. 

“Much better.” She grinned. Cathy held out her hand and Anne gave her a confused look. 

“Your shirt.” Cathy said, and a look of realisation appeared on Anne’s face as she threw her shirt to Cathy. 

The curly haired girl climbed out of bed, feeling self conscious as Anne’s eyes raked her naked body. She grabbed her underwear and a pair of tracksuit pants, putting them on and then pulling Anne’s shirt over her head. Mae cried out and Cathy instantly rushed over to the baby. 

“Good morning my darling.” She whispered, lifting Mae out of her bassinet, Mae’s cries stopping the minute she was in Cathy’s arms. 

There was a gentle knock on Cathy’s door and Anne opened it to find Catalina with Lizzie in her arms. 

“Mama!” Lizzie exclaimed when she saw Anne. 

“Hi baby.” Anne replied, taking Lizzie from Catalina. The older woman glanced between Cathy and Anne, her eyes lingering on their shirts before seemingly deciding to ignore it. 

“Breakfast is almost ready.” She told them, before turning to leave the room. 

Cathy blushed. 

“She knows.” Cathy whispered. Anne giggled. 

“Who cares? So what, we had…” She trailed off, glancing at Lizzie. “S-e-x. It’s not the end of the world. We’ve all done it before. That’s how we became single mums.” 

Cathy rolled her eyes. 

“That doesn’t mean I want everyone to know.” She replied, and a hurt look appeared on Anne’s face. But as quickly as it appeared it was gone and Anne spun around to head out the door. 

“We should probably get breakfast.” She said, leaving the room quickly and Cathy frowned, before following her down the stairs. Anne’s odd change in behaviour could wait until later. 

Breakfast was over quickly and the family of ten soon settled into an easy conversation. 

“So… Any plans today?” Kat asked, playing with the leftover eggs on her plate. 

“I promised Mary we’d go swimming today.” Catalina answered, and Mary cheered. 

“Swimming sounds fun, Eddie loves the water.” Jane chimed in. 

“We should all go and make it a day, take lunch with us.” Anna suggested and she was met with nods of agreement from the rest of the table. Cathy frowned, glancing down at Mae who was curled up in her arms, fast asleep after finishing a bottle, her tiny fist holding onto Anne’s shirt that Cathy was still wearing. 

“Mae’s never been swimming before.” She said. 

“Does she have a swimsuit?” Catalina asked and Cathy shook her head no. 

“Okay, first step is to go into town and get her one. We can pick up a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery for lunch, plus maybe some cakes or tarts. Then we come back, get ready and go and have our pool day.” The Spanish woman decided. Cathy smiled in agreement. 

“I better get dressed properly then.” Cathy said, standing up. “Thank you for breakfast Jane.” 

“You’re welcome darling.” Jane replied, and Cathy headed up the stairs. 

Reaching her room she shut the door behind her, placing Mae into her bassinet gently before opening her wardrobe. She glanced down at Anne’s shirt, making the decision to keep it on, and styling it with some high waisted jeans. 

“What do you want to wear today Mae-Mae?” Cathy asked the now squirming baby. She opened Mae’s drawer and grabbed out an outfit, lifting the baby up and dressing her quickly, before grabbing her keys and purse, as well as Mae’s nappy bag. With the bag over one shoulder and Mae in her arms Cathy was ready to go. 

“Right, let’s go get you some swimmers.” 

Cathy headed downstairs, finding that almost everyone had migrated to the living room. She placed Mae in her carrier, clicking her in and lifting it up before turning to the rest of the women. 

“Okay I’m going into town. Who wants to come?” Cathy questioned, shifting Mae’s carrier to her other arm. 

“Me!” Kat called, rushing into the room. 

“Awesome, anyone else?” She glanced over at Anne who was sitting on the couch, but Anne was silent, as were the rest of her housemates. 

“Looks like it’s just us Kat.” Cathy smiled at the teenager, who grinned happily. 

“Does that mean I get shotgun?” She asked, and Cathy nodded. 

“Of course.” She replied, and Kat cheered. 

After saying their final goodbyes to the rest of the girls, Kat, Cathy and Mae made their way outside to Cathy’s car, which was luckily no longer parked in by Anne’s car. Cathy unlocked the car and opened the back door, clipping Mae’s carrier in while Kat walked around the car, climbing into the passenger’s seat. Once Mae was safely clipped in Cathy shut the door and hopped into the driver’s seat. 

“Ready?” Cathy asked and Kat nodded. Cathy reversed out of the driveway and onto the main road that led off the campus. 

“So you and Anna, huh?” Cathy questioned, breaking the silence that had settled over the car. Kat blushed. 

“It seems stupid cause we’ve only known each other for like 2 weeks but I really like her.” Kitty went silent for a moment. “But I guess it’s the same with you and Annie.” 

Cathy nodded, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach. Kat stared at her. 

“Are you okay?” She questioned. Cathy swallowed. 

“I think I upset Anne.” She admitted. Kat frowned. 

“How so?” 

“I don’t know. But we were talking this morning when we woke up and she was fine but then she just kinda… changed? And now she won’t even look at me.” Cathy explained. 

“What were you talking about? Maybe she was offended by something accidentally?” Kat questioned. Cathy blushed. 

“We were… um… talking about last night.” She replied. 

“What happened last night?” Kat asked, and Cathy blushed harder. 

“We... “ Cathy trailed off. “We kinda maybe had sex?” Cathy muttered, just loud enough for Kat to hear, and the younger girl giggled. 

“Did you actually?” She said through giggles. Cathy cringed internally. This was an awkward conversation to have with anyone full stop, let alone the younger cousin of the girl you slept with. 

“Yeah.” She said eventually. Kat smirked slightly.

“Was it good?” She asked, and Cathy almost choked. 

“Katherine!” She gasped. 

“I’m just asking!” Kat defended. Cathy was silent for a moment. 

“It was really good.” She admitted. Kat squealed. Cathy groaned. 

“This is so awkward, she’s your cousin. Can we change the topic?” She asked. Kat shook her head. 

“No, I want to know everything.” She said. Cathy turned off the road, pulling up outside the small department store in town. 

“Oh too bad looks like we don’t have the time.” She feigned disappointment and Kat poked her tongue out, before glancing into the back of the car. 

“Hey, can I carry Mae?” She asked. 

“I was gonna put her into her pram but if you’d prefer to carry her that’s fine.” Cathy said and Kat shook her head quickly. 

“No no I want to push her in the pram.” She grinned, and Cathy agreed quickly. She hopped out of the car and walked to the back, opening the boot and removing Mae’s pram and clipping it together before opening the door next to Mae and getting the baby out, putting her in the pram. Placing the nappy bag in the bottom of the pram she turned to Kat, who was already behind the pram. 

“You ready?” Cathy asked and Kat nodded, and together they headed into the store. 

Just over an hour later Cathy, Kat and Mae arrived back home with swimming supplies for baby Mae and enough food and drinks to feed the whole family. 

“We’re back!” Kat called, kicking off her shoes in the living room where Jane, Catalina and Anna were sat talking. 

“We see that.” Anna replied from her spot on the couch. Kat grinned at the German girl. 

“Did you bring stuff for lunch?” Jane questioned, standing up. Cathy nodded as Kat held up the bakery bag. Jane took the bag from her. 

“We’ll leave in about half an hour, so you better go get ready.” Catalina told them, and Cathy quickly obeyed, heading up the stairs to get herself and Mae dressed. 

Cathy dressed Mae in her swimmers and swim nappy quickly, snapping a photo of her daughter all dressed up for a memory. 

Mae’s eyes fluttered slightly so Cathy placed her into her bassinet until they had to leave. 

Quickly changing into her own bikini and a coverup dress she decided to find Anne and figure out exactly what the issue was. She flicked the baby monitor on and grabbed the handset before leaving her room and heading up the stairs to Anne’s. 

“Knock knock.” She called, entering the room through the open door. Lizzie looked up from her spot on the bed watching Paw Patrol. 

“Mae?” She asked. Cathy shook her head. 

“Mae is sleeping.” She told the toddler, who nodded before turning her attention back to the TV. 

Cathy looked at Anne, who was doing her best to pretend that she couldn’t see Cathy. 

“Anne, can we talk?” Cathy asked. Anne stared down at the swimmers in her hands. 

“I’m getting Lizzie ready.” She said. Cathy bit her lip. 

“Are you mad at me?” She asked, not sure if she really wanted an answer. Anne hesitated. 

“No…” She said eventually. Cathy frowned. 

“You don’t sound convinced.” Anne sighed, putting Lizzie’s swimmers down on the bed, finally looking over at Cathy, her eyes filled with a hurt look. 

“I’m not mad at you Cath.” She reassured. 

“Then what’s wrong?” Cathy questioned, taking a step closer now that she had Anne’s attention on her. 

“I just thought I’d give you some space after last night.” Anne replied, turning back to the swimmers, picking them up to place them on top of a folded towel. Cathy stared at her, confused. 

“Why? It was amazing.” Cathy said. Anne looked up quickly. 

“Wait, what? You don’t regret it?” She questioned. Cathy shook her head. 

“Of course not dummy. Why would I regret it?” She asked with a small laugh. 

“I don’t know, it’s just you said you didn’t want the other girls to know so I just assumed you regretted it.” Anne shrugged. 

“Nan…” Cathy took a step closer to the older girl. “I mean it, I don’t regret a single moment of it. It was probably the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Really?” Anne grinned cockily, her usual personality reappearing. Cathy rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t let that go to your head.” She cracked a small smile. 

“Anne Boleyn: Master of Sex.” Anne grinned. Cathy shook her head. 

“You’re impossible.” She groaned. Anne giggled, stepping closer to her and wrapping her arms around Cathy’s waist, resting her head on Cathy’s shoulder. Cathy melted into her touch. 

“Sorry for being a sook.” Anne muttered into Cathy’s shoulder. Cathy rubbed her back. 

“I’ll accept your apology if you promise that in the future we talk things out.” She replied. Anne nodded. 

“Deal.” She said. They fell silent for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of being in each other’s arms. Remembering something, Cathy bit her lip. 

“Also I should probably warn you I did tell Kat that we slept together...” She said quietly. Anne lifted her head up, looking Cathy in the eyes. 

“You told my baby cousin we fucked?” Anne questioned. Cathy pulled a face. 

“Yes?” She said. 

“Catherine.” Anne groaned. 

“Sorry.” Cathy giggled. Anne shook her head. 

“We’re even then.” She said, resting her forehead against Cathy’s. “But you do know now everyone will know, right?” 

Cathy sighed. 

“I figured.” She said in a quiet voice. Anne’s eyes filled with confusion. 

“What’s the big deal about everyone knowing anyways?” She asked. Cathy shrugged. 

“I guess I just don’t want them to get the wrong impression of me. Of us.” Her voice was no louder than a whisper. Anne connected their lips in a gentle kiss. 

“Don’t worry, no one will think that about you. And if they do they’ll have me to answer to.” She said once they separated. Cathy smiled. 

“Thank you.” She whispered. Anne returned her smile. 

“Any time. Now let’s go have a fun day at the pool.” 

They arrived at the pool an hour later, and after paying for a day pass they entered the complex and split up, with Anna, Kat, Catalina and Mary heading over to the large lap pool and Cathy, Jane, Anne and the babies heading towards the shallow kiddie pool. 

“Mama, look, slide!” Lizzie squealed, running into the water, Anne hot on her heels. Jane sat down in the shallow water, sitting Edward in the water in front of her. Cathy knelt down in the water next to them, splashing some of the water onto Mae to get the two month old used to the temperature of the water. 

“What do you think Mae?” Cathy asked softly. Mae stared up at her, big brown eyes full of curiosity. 

“I think she likes it.” Jane said with a grin. “Try putting her in.” 

Cathy hesitated before slowly lowering Mae’s feet into the water. When she didn’t react Cathy continued lowering her until most of her tiny body had been wet. 

“You like that Mae?” Cathy asked the baby. Mae grinned happily at her mother and Cathy couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Okay she definitely likes it.” Jane laughed. 

They sat in the water chatting for around 15 minutes before Mae shivered slightly and Cathy lifted her out of the water. 

“I think we’re done.” She decided and Jane nodded. 

“That’s probably best.” She agreed. “We might actually come with you, go sit in the sun or something. I think Lina was bringing a picnic rug.” 

She lifted Edward into her arms and the two of them stood up, babies in their arms. 

“Anne we’re going to sit in the sun.” Jane called. Anne gave them a thumbs up, so they turned and headed over to where Catalina had set up their bags on a bright blue picnic rug on the grass. 

Grabbing a towel out of her bag Cathy dried Mae and wrapped the towel around her, sitting down on the rug and holding the baby close to her. 

“Had enough?” Catalina asked, coming over. Cathy nodded. 

“The babies did at least. So we thought we’d curl up in the sun instead.” She told the Spanish woman. Catalina nodded, picking up a water bottle and having a drink before setting it back down. 

“I’m gonna go sit in the spa.” She told them. Jane glanced longingly over at the spa and Cathy placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’ve got Edward, you go.” She told her. The blonde grinned. 

“Really?” She asked, and Cathy nodded. Jane placed Edward on the rug next to Cathy. 

“Thank you!” She exclaimed, before following Catalina over to the spa. Cathy smiled at the two babies that she was left with. 

“Looks like it’s just us now.” 

Around half an hour later Cathy glanced down at Mae, noticing the baby was showing her early signs of hunger. She grabbed a spare towel, draping it over her shoulder and Mae, before pulling her bikini top down and beginning to feed Mae. 

Lizzie came running over and Cathy grinned at the toddler. 

“Are you having fun?” She asked as Lizzie sat down on the rug beside her. Lizzie nodded. 

“I swim with Mama.” She told her. Edward reached out and grabbed onto Lizzie’s hand and the toddler squealed happily. Anne sat down on the rug next to Cathy, and Lizzie grinned up at her mother. 

“Look Mama.” She said, holding up Edward’s hand. Anne smiled in acknowledgement. 

Mae pulled away and Cathy shifted her to the other side, Mae latching on quickly, before Cathy turned her attention to Anne. 

“You can’t see anything, right?” She asked, motioning to Mae who was covered by the towel. Anne scanned her body, shaking her head. 

“You’re good.” She replied. Cathy gave her a smile in thanks. 

“Cathy swim.” Lizzie grabbed on to Cathy’s thigh. Cathy frowned slightly, not wanting to disappoint the three year old. 

“I can’t, I have to look after Mae and Edward, sorry Lizzie.” Cathy said, and Lizzie pouted. Anne reached into the cooler, grabbing out a bottle of juice. 

“Mae and Edward are too little to swim like you.” Anne told Lizzie, taking a sip of the juice before offering it to the toddler. Lizzie grabbed the drink from her mother. 

“Thank you.” She said, and Anne smiled. Mae pulled her head away from Cathy, signifying she was full and Cathy glanced down at the baby. Pulling her bikini top back up she removed the towel and lifted Mae up to burp her. When she was done Cathy placed Mae down onto the rug, Lizzie scrambling to get closer to the baby. 

“Hi Mae.” She grinned, leaning down to cuddle the baby. Cathy’s heart filled with warmth at the sight. 

Anne looked at Cathy, her eyes scanning the younger girl’s face before she glanced down, her gaze lingering for a second too long on Cathy’s exposed cleavage. Cathy blushed.

“Anne.” She reprimanded, and the dark haired girl just gave her a cheeky grin. 

“Mama swim?” Lizzie asked, looking up at her mother. 

“Yeah Mama will swim with you.” Anne agreed, placing a soft kiss on Cathy’s lips before standing up and leading Lizzie over to the pool. 

Cathy smiled as she watched the mother daughter duo in the pool, Lizzie jumping off the ledge in the pool and swimming over to Anne, and then swimming back. 

“Do you wanna join them?” Jane’s voice came and Cathy looked up to find Jane and Catalina next to her. “We’ve got Mae.” 

“Are you sure?” Cathy asked. Jane nodded, taking a seat on the rug. 

“Of course, you took Eddie for me so the least I can do is return the favour. Go have fun.” She said and Cathy gave her a thankful smile before standing up and heading over to the pool, entering the water via the steps in the middle of the edge of the pool. 

“Do you mind if I join?” Cathy called to Anne and Lizzie, who was back standing on the ledge in the pool. 

“Of course not. Liz is practicing her swimming skills.” Anne replied as Cathy made her way over. “Ready baby?” Lizzie nodded, before pushing off the ledge and kicking over to her mother. She grabbed hold of Anne, grinning happily. 

“Did it again Mama!” She exclaimed. Anne smiled back at her. 

“You did, and you did such a good job.” She replied, glancing up at Cathy before turning her attention back to the three year old. “Wanna try swimming to Cathy?” Lizzie nodded, and Cathy took a few steps backwards, Anne nodding to tell her she was at a good distance. 

“Ready?” Anne asked and Lizzie nodded again, letting Anne push her forward in the water towards Cathy. Lizzie kicked her legs and reached Cathy easily, grabbing onto the young mother when she made it. 

“Good job Lizzie!” Cathy grinned and Lizzie giggled. 

“Again?” She questioned and Anne held her arms out. Cathy pushed Lizzie forward, the same way Anne had a few minutes before and Lizzie kicked back to her mother, squealing happily once she was back in her mother’s arms. 

This went on until Lizzie tired of swimming and the trio climbed out of the pool to curl up on the picnic rug. 

Snuggled up with Lizzie tucked into her side, Mae curled up on her chest and her head in Anne’s lap, Cathy found herself drifting off to sleep as the older girl played with her curls. 

“Go to sleep babes. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.” Anne told her and she nodded slightly, allowing herself to drift off into a comfortable sleep, so thankful that this was her life now.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy, anne, anna and kat have a fun night out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, sexual references, alcohol/getting drunk
> 
> hey guys, really sorry this is late again, i'm really busy with uni so i'm probably not going to be able to upload weekly for a few weeks (i'm about to start a practical teaching appointment for three weeks so i'll be working from 8am-5pm in a school teaching) but i'll try my best to write a bit more whenever i can so i can post 
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave a comment if you did :)
> 
> thank you and enjoy!

The next evening Cathy found herself getting ready to head to the Uni Bar with Anna, Kat and Anne for Pride Night. Pride Night came every second week and was a night for all LGBTQIA+ students to mingle with each other. When Anna had found out about the night from Bessie, a girl she had met in one of her classes, she couldn’t wait to get home to Cathy, Anne and Kat to tell them that they had to go. 

Which is how Cathy ended up putting on the most scandalous outfit she owned (which in reality was just a lace bodysuit and high waisted pants) and heels that were slightly too tall on a Sunday night, when all she really wanted to do was to curl up with Mae and watch a movie. 

A knock came from Cathy’s door and she spun around, finding Kat and Anne standing in the doorway with their arms linked together. 

“Ready?” Kat asked, and Cathy nodded, grabbing her clutch from her dresser and heading towards the door. Kat pulled away from Anne to knock on Anna’s door, giving Cathy a chance to properly check Anne out. The older girl was wearing a see-through green mesh top revealing her bra underneath and high waisted cargo pants, paired with her signature space buns and a bright red lipstick. Cathy felt her stomach flutter as she scanned Anne’s body, in awe of how attractive the older girl really was. 

“You right there?” Anne teased in a quiet voice, so that Kat and Anna, who were trying to decide on which pair of boots Anna should wear, couldn’t hear. Cathy blushed slightly. 

“You look really good.” She replied, moving slightly closer to Anne, who grabbed her hand, linking their fingers together. 

“Not as good as you.” Anne replied, her eyes roaming Cathy’s body, not even trying to be subtle that she was checking her out. Cathy tried to stop herself from blushing even harder. “The girls at the bar are gonna be all over you.” 

Cathy shook her head, taking a step closer to Anne so they were almost pressed against each other. 

“Too bad I only have eyes for one girl.” She murmured, and Anne grinned, pulling her in and kissing her heatedly. 

“Ugh are we gonna have to deal with this all night?” Anna groaned. Anne flipped her off, pulling Cathy impossibly closer to her. Anna groaned again, covering Kat’s eyes causing the teenager to giggle. 

Anne ran her hands down Cathy’s exposed back, and Cathy opened her mouth slightly, allowing Anne’s tongue to slide into her mouth. Anna made a gagging noise. 

“You guys are disgusting. Come on Kitty, we’ll wait downstairs while these two swallow each other’s tongues.” Anna said, and Cathy could faintly hear the two sets of footsteps leaving over the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her chest. 

After a few moments Cathy pulled away to catch her breath, giggling slightly at Anne’s smudged lipstick. Anne grinned at her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the open bathroom wordlessly. 

“Anne we can’t…” Cathy trailed off as Anne handed her a makeup wipe. Anne shook her head. 

“No bathroom sex... yet. Just a lipstick fix.” She replied, and Cathy glanced at her reflection in the mirror, giggling slightly when she noticed that she had red lipstick all over her mouth. 

“Maybe we should wear the same colour lipstick.” Cathy joked as she wiped the red lipstick off her face and reapplied her own nude pink lipstick. Anne giggled. 

“Or I’ll just wear a better quality lipstick. Clearly this one isn’t kiss proof.” She replied.

With their lipstick fixed the duo headed downstairs, hand in hand to where the rest of the residents of the house were sat in the living room. 

“Finally, I was beginning to think you were up there fucking before we left.” Anna winked. Cathy glanced at the floor awkwardly, and Anne squeezed her hand. 

“Shut up Cleves.” Anne bit back. “Besides, if you think sex with a woman is that quick clearly you’ve been doing it wrong all these years.” 

“Not in front of the kids.” Jane sighed. 

“Why? The only one who can understand is Mary and she’s old enough to hear a bit of banter.” Anna replied. Catalina shot her a glare. 

“She’s twelve.” She said. Anna shrugged. 

“I was her age when I started messing around with other girls.” She stated. Jane and Catalina shot her shocked looks and she grinned. 

“I had more girls aged twelve then Anne has gotten in her entire life.” She teased, trying to get the Boleyn girl to bite back. 

“I’ll have you know that back in the day I had girls flocking to me. Boys too so that doubles the amount of people I had.” Anne replied, a successful smirk appearing on Anna’s face. Cathy glanced over to the corner where they had set up part of Mae’s bassinet for the baby to lay in while her mother was out, and decided to head over to her. She let go of Anne’s hand, the other girl not even realising, too caught up in her back and forth with Anna to notice. Cathy crossed the room quickly, smiling as she crouched down next to Lizzie who had set up camp beside the bassinet, to see her baby. 

“Mama’s gonna go out for a little bit, you be a good girl for Jane and Catalina.” Cathy whispered, brushing Mae’s soft curls gently before turning her attention to Lizzie, rubbing the toddler’s back softly. 

“Take good care of her.” She told the toddler who nodded happily. 

“I watch Mae.” She replied. 

“Good girl.” Cathy praised. 

“Ready Cath?” Kat asked and Cathy looked up, nodding quickly. Leaning over she pressed a gentle kiss to Mae’s head. 

“I love you my darling.” She whispered before standing up, almost bumping into Anne who had come over to say goodbye to Lizzie. Kat and Anna had wandered outside so Cathy opted to wait for Anne, watching as the dark haired girl spoke softly to her daughter. Anne kissed Lizzie on the head and lent down, pressing a quick kiss to Mae’s head before standing up and grinning at Cathy. 

“Let’s go.” 

Anna led the small group of four into the Uni Bar. The room was packed full of sweaty people and the music was blasting, sending vibrations through Cathy’s body. 

“We should get a drink.” Anna yelled over the sound of the music. They all agreed and linked hands as Anna led them to the bar. 

“I’m only having one drink, I have class tomorrow.” Kat reminded them. Anna nodded. 

“Yeah me too I think.” She replied. “Maybe two. But no more.” 

“Does a round of tequila shots count as one drink?” Anne questioned, leaning against the bar, her hand still linked with Cathy’s. Kat nodded as Anna shook her head. 

“Tequila shots are a great starter.” Anna grinned. 

“I’ll have a rum and coke instead.” Kat decided. Anne turned to Cathy. 

“What do you want babes?” She asked. Cathy smiled. 

“I’m down for a round of shots.” She agreed. Anne and Anna cheered, the latter calling the bartender over to order quickly. 

Their drinks were placed in front of them shortly after and Anna picked up two shots, handing one to Cathy and one to Anne before picking up her own. Kat picked up her glass and grinned. 

“To a night out with my favourite gays.” She joked, and they clinked their glasses, the three with shots doing them quickly. Cathy winced as the alcohol went down her throat, the liquid burning all the way down. 

After ordering some more drinks Anna dragged Kat towards the dance floor, leaving Cathy and Anne alone. 

“Should we find a table?” Cathy asked, taking a sip of her gin and tonic. Anne nodded, pulling Cathy by their still linked hands over to a small booth in the corner. She slid into the seat and Cathy climbed in next to her, sitting so close that their sides were pressed together. 

Cathy glanced around the bar awkwardly. 

“This isn’t really my scene.” She spoke, and Anne giggled. 

“Figured. Don’t worry, we can leave whenever you want.” She assured Cathy, resting her head on the younger’s shoulder. Cathy picked up her drink again. 

“Well if I’m gonna be here I may as well have a bit of fun.” She decided, downing the liquid in her drink as Anne laughed. Finishing the drink she placed the glass back on the table. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, ms lightweight?” Anne teased. Cathy smiled, already beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. 

“It’s a great idea. Trust me. You’ll love drunk Cathy.” 

A few hours and one too many drinks later Cathy was the drunkest she had ever been in her entire 23 years. She swallowed the last mouthful of her drink, pushing her glass away. Kat gave her a concerned look. 

“I think you’re done Cath.” She decided and Cathy couldn’t help but agree. Her head was spinning, and she was pretty sure if anyone asked her to walk in a straight line she would fail. But then again she’d never been very good at doing straight things. Anne lent in, her breath hot on Cathy’s ear.

“You wanna dance?” She asked. Cathy nodded, allowing Anne to drag her out of the booth. She stumbled slightly causing Anne to trip as well, which resulted in the two of them giggling. Anna and Kat exchanged a look. 

Regaining her balance, Anne dragged her to the dance floor, stopping when they were in a small gap in the middle of the crowd. She spun around, pulling Cathy flush against her body, her hands snaking around Cathy’s waist, moving their hips in time to the music. 

Cathy felt her stomach flutter at the contact, and she looked into Anne’s eyes, almost moaning at the look Anne was giving her. 

They continued to dance for a few more songs, getting slightly friskier than they probably should have been in a public place, but they were both too drunk to care. The song ended and Anne looked at her, an idea clearly forming in her brain. 

“You wanna go on an adventure?” She questioned. Cathy nodded. Anne grabbed her hand, pulling her through the crowd and out of the bar into the cool night air. 

They walked across the road in silence other than the occasional drunk giggle, Anne leading the way, until they arrived at the area of the park with bikes on a large circular track. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cathy asked as Anne pulled her towards two of the bikes. 

“Of course it is.” Anne grinned. Cathy climbed on the front bike and began to pedal. 

She laughed loudly as Anne pedalled quickly behind her. She hadn’t felt this carefree in years. 

“You better watch out Cath I’ll hit you. I am speed.” Anne called out and Cathy squealed loudly, trying to pedal faster. 

“I can’t go any faster.” She replied through laughs. Anne’s bike crashed into the back of hers and the impact knocked her off the bike with a scream. 

“Cathy?” Anne said, jumping off the bike and squatting down next to Cathy who was flat on her back on the grass. “Oh fuck, are you dead?” 

“All I can see is stars.” Cathy giggled, before sticking her tongue out and playing dead. 

“Fuck, you need CPR.” Anne decided, leaning down and kissing her quickly. Cathy pushed herself up from the ground, their lips still moving in sync. She ran her hands along Anne’s back, her fingers tangling in Anne’s hair. 

Anne pulled away and grinned cheekily. 

“Do you need more mouth to mouth? CPR?” She asked. Cathy sat up properly and nodded. Anne climbed on top of her, straddling her waist and connecting their lips again. She placed her hands on Anne’s lower back, gasping slightly when one of Anne’s hands came up to cup her breast. 

“Is this illegal?” Cathy murmured against Anne’s lips. The older girl just shrugged, running the hand that wasn’t on Cathy’s boob through Cathy’s dark curls. 

They stayed this way for a while, just soaking in the feeling of each other’s lips and the feeling of their bodies intertwined, not even noticing their phones going wild in their pockets. 

Eventually Cathy pulled away from Anne, making the older girl groan slightly. 

“We should probably head home.” Cathy whispered. Anne sighed but agreed, standing up shakily and holding out her hand to help Cathy up. Taking Anne’s hand the younger girl stood, and with one last soft kiss they headed back to their house. 

Catalina was waiting up for them when they opened the front door, giggling over nothing. Noticing the oldest member of their house standing there they stopped, feeling like teenagers who had been caught sneaking back in after they had been at a party their parents told them not to attend. 

“There you two are. You were missing for two hours, you had us all worried sick. Do you know how irresponsible you’ve been?” Catalina lectured. Cathy felt a wave of guilt overcome her. Anne just grinned at the older woman, causing Catalina to narrow her eyes at them. 

“Are you drunk?” She asked, staring at the two girls in front of her. Cathy hesitated. 

“No?” She tried. Anne giggled. Catalina shot both of them a glare.

“You look drunk.” She said. Cathy stood up slightly straighter, causing Catalina to shake her head. “And smell it too. Where were you? Kat and Anna said you just disappeared.” Anne grinned at her. 

“We went to the park.” She replied. “Got a little smoochy.” She giggled, grabbing Cathy’s face and kissing her cheek. Catalina sighed. 

“You’re mothers, ladies. You’re meant to be responsible.” She lectured. 

“So mother’s can’t have any fun?” Anne questioned. Catalina sighed again. 

“I didn’t say that.” She said, frowning. “Just go to bed, both of you.” 

Cathy grabbed on to Anne, not trusting herself not to stumble and the two of them made their way up the stairs, giggling loudly. 

Cathy stopped at her door, turning to face Anne. 

“Stay with me?” She asked shyly. Anne grinned, dragging Cathy into the room. Cathy pulled the door shut behind them, checking on Mae quickly. Satisfied that her baby was okay she turned her attention back to Anne, who had stripped down to just her underwear. Cathy blushed as Anne walked over, pulling Cathy into her and connecting their lips roughly. 

And with Anne’s lips on hers and the alcohol fogging up her brain Cathy could only be certain of one thing. 

She wanted Anne to be her girlfriend. 

And she was going to make it happen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cathy and anne finally make it official

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, sexual references 
> 
> sorry for the delay, as i said i'm currently on my practical placement in a school teaching five year olds so i don't really have time to write 
> 
> this chapter is the last before we start with some time skips, so make sure to keep an eye on the chapter notes to see when each chapter is set :) 
> 
> as always don't forget to comment if you enjoyed :)

Cathy woke the next morning curled up into Anne’s arms. She shut her eyes tightly, the light coming through her window too bright for her hungover state. Groaning slightly she pressed her head into Anne’s neck. 

“You okay?” Anne asked softly. Cathy lifted her head up. 

“I didn’t realise you were awake.” She said, her eyes meeting Anne’s, and the older girl nodded. 

“Liz woke up at seven and of course she had to come wake me up too. I sent her downstairs hoping someone would feed her, and she hasn’t come back so I think I won.” Anne grinned. Cathy made a noise in acknowledgement, her head thumping. 

“How’s your head?” She questioned. Anne smirked. 

“Haven’t had any complaints.” She joked. Cathy groaned, causing Anne to laugh. 

“My head is fine, but by the looks of it yours is not.” The older girl replied and Cathy nodded. 

“I feel like shit.” She said and Anne rubbed her back. “How am I so hungover and you’re fine? We both drank the same amount.”

“Yes but one, I’m not a lightweight, and two, I like to think that I’m incredibly strong and a hangover isn’t gonna take me down.” Anne giggled. Cathy groaned. 

“Bitch.” She muttered under her breath and Anne laughed. Cathy flinched at the sound, burying her head back into Anne's neck. 

“Rude.” Anne retorted. 

“Let me be mean, my head hurts.” Cathy mumbled. 

“Poor baby.” Anne comforted as Cathy snuggled closer into Anne. “Lazy cuddle day?” 

Cathy hummed in response, just enjoying the comforting feeling of being in Anne’s arms. Her head was rested on Anne’s chest, the sound of Anne’s heartbeat a soothing sound. 

They laid like this for what felt like hours, until Mae decided it was time for her mother to get up. The baby cried out and Cathy winced at the loudness of her cry. 

“I’ve got her.” Anne whispered, and Cathy reluctantly moved away from Anne. The older girl climbed out of the bed, grabbing an oversized shirt and shorts from Cathy’s dresser and pulling the clothes on before picking a still crying Mae up. 

“Hey, it’s okay angel. I’ve got you.” She said in a soft voice, holding Mae close to her. The baby grabbed at the shirt she was wearing and Anne smiled gently. 

“Oh you want breakfast huh? Okay let’s go get you a bottle and then we can come back and cuddle with Mama.” She told the baby, bouncing slightly. She turned her attention to Cathy. 

“Coffee?” She questioned and Cathy nodded. Anne smiled before leaving the room with Mae. Cathy laid her head back on her pillows, trying to block out the dull thumping in her head. She must have drifted off because the next thing she knew Anne was shaking her gently. 

“Cathy wake up, I brought coffee and pain killers.” Anne whispered softly, and once she was sat up Cathy took the pills gratefully, swallowing them quickly. Anne slid back into bed next to her, Mae in her arms drinking her bottle. Cathy held her arms out and Anne placed the baby into her mother’s arms and Cathy visibly relaxed once she had Mae in her arms. 

“Mama?” Lizzie’s voice came from the door. “I cuddle too?” 

Anne opened up her arms and Lizzie jumped up onto the bed, snuggling into her mother’s chest, head turned so she could see Mae. 

Cathy rested her head on Anne’s shoulder and the older girl wrapped an arm around her. 

“Can we stay like this all day?” 

“Of course we can. I can put a show on if you want?” Anne suggested. 

“Peppa?” Lizzie asked. Anne hesitated, glancing at Cathy.

“Peppa sounds great.” Cathy agreed. 

And that’s how they spent the entire day, curled up in Cathy’s bed watching Peppa Pig.

Cathy woke up early Wednesday morning to her stomach filled with butterflies. Today was the day. She had planned everything out the previous night, so all she had to do was put her plan into action. 

She slipped out of bed quickly, pulling on some jeans and a button up shirt, before turning her attention to Mae who had begun to whimper in her bassinet. She picked the baby up, changing her nappy and dressing her quickly, before taking her downstairs, opting to feed her while she had breakfast. 

They entered the kitchen to find Catalina and Mary, the twelve year old just finishing a bowl of cereal. 

“Good morning.” Cathy greeted, walking over to the fridge and grabbing out a yoghurt. She took a spoon from the drawer before heading back over to the table. 

“Good morning mija, you’re up early.” Catalina replied. Cathy nodded, taking a seat as Mary jumped up, her cereal finished. She placed her bowl in the sink before rushing back upstairs to finish getting ready for school. 

“Do you mind?” Cathy gestured to Mae and Catalina shook her head. 

“Of course not.” She replied as Cathy quickly got Mae set up and feeding. Holding the baby with one arm she took a mouthful of yoghurt before responding to Catalina’s observation. 

“I have plans today.” She told the Spanish woman, glancing towards the stairs before continuing in a hushed tone. “I’m gonna ask Anne to be my girlfriend. Officially.” 

Catalina grinned widely. 

“I’m so happy for you.” She said. Cathy could feel her cheeks heating up slightly. 

“I have a plan but I need your help, if that’s okay?” She asked and Catalina nodded. 

“Of course, anything.” She said with a smile. 

“I’m doing a scavenger hunt for her, I need you to give her the second clue. Oh and if you don’t mind looking after Mae for a couple of hours?” Cathy questioned. 

“Done.” Catalina nodded. Cathy grinned. 

“Thank you so much Lina.” She said as Mary re-entered the room with her bag on her back. “I’ll leave the clue on your bed for you if you’re not back in time.” 

Catalina nodded as she stood up. She began to walk out of the room behind Mary but paused, turning back to Cathy. 

“Good luck mija.” She said softly. Cathy smiled in acknowledgement. 

“Thank you.” 

And with that Catalina and Mary left, leaving Cathy to finish her breakfast and prepare the day. 

Half an hour later Mae was fast asleep in her bassinet and the first thing Cathy had to do before she left the house was sneak the first clue into Anne’s room. 

She snuck up the stairs quietly, hoping that Anne was still asleep, breathing in a sigh of relief when she saw Anne’s sleeping form in her bed. Not wasting any time Cathy left the envelope containing the first clue on Anne’s bedside table, on top of her phone. 

The first clue was in a green envelope marked with Anne’s name in cursive, and contained a slip of paper that read “think about the place where you first met me - C x”. All of the clues had ended up as Taylor Swift lyrics, it just worked so well. 

Exiting Anne’s room she headed downstairs to the kitchen, finding that Catalina had already returned and was sat at the table with a cup of tea. 

Cathy walked over to her, handing her the baby monitor first, and then the second envelope, this one a pale pink colour, that contained the clue “you’ll be the (knight) prince and I’ll be the princess - C x”, which Anne would hopefully realise meant the playground. 

After saying a quick goodbye to the other girls and instructing Catalina to stay in the kitchen until Anne came down, Cathy headed towards the playground in the park. The playground itself was deserted, so Cathy left the third envelope, a bright orange one again marked with Anne’s name, in the spot at the top of the playground where they had shared their first unofficial kiss courtesy of Mary. This clue was slightly more vague, reading “don’t you see the starlight? - C x”, and under the note Cathy had drawn a small picture of the bikes that they had been on after the bar. 

She headed to this spot next to leave her final clue, a yellow envelope containing the clue “do you remember we were sitting there by the water - C x” which would hopefully lead Anne to the duck pond where Cathy would be waiting. 

She placed the final clue on the bike before beginning the walk across the park to the pond. 

She was halfway to the pond when her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, grinning when she noticed it was a snapchat from Anne. She opened up their conversation to read the message. 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- what are you up to? 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- sending me to the park

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- do i get a prize? 

**GoldStarParr** \- maybe… 

**GoldStarParr** \- you’ll have to wait and see 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- fuck you

 **GoldStarParr** \- been there done that ;) several times might i add x

Sending the final message Cathy arrived at the pond, deciding to take a seat on the dock. She could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket but she ignored it. She couldn’t be mysterious when she was texting Anne the whole time. 

She sat in silence just staring out across the pond for about twenty minutes, before she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to find Anne heading towards her, the letters grasped in her hand. Cathy stood up as Anne made it to her, a smile on her face. 

“You found me.” She teased. Anne grinned. 

“Are you the prize?” She questioned. Cathy shrugged playfully. 

“Perhaps.” She said, pulling a final envelope out of her pocket. “Or maybe this is.” 

She held the envelope out to Anne, her heart racing at what was about to happen. Anne opened the envelope and pulled the piece of paper out, scanning the words on the paper quickly before stepping forward and crashing her lips against Cathy’s. 

After a moment Cathy pulled away. 

“So?” She questioned. Anne grinned cheekily. 

“So what?” She replied. Cathy rolled her eyes. 

“Anne Boleyn, will you be my girlfriend?” She asked, repeating the words that had been written on the final piece of paper. Anne smiled softly, leaning in to kiss Cathy gently. 

“Of course.” She replied. “I would love to be your girlfriend.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mae starts childcare, cathy, anne and their girls have a late night adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing
> 
> so this isnt the greatest chapter but trust me, the next one will make up for it i promise 
> 
> as you can see by the first sentence this chapter is set two weeks after the last one
> 
> i only have 5 more days of my teaching prac left so hopefully i will be back on a regular uploading schedule very soon
> 
> as always i hope you enjoy, please leave a comment if you did, they really keep me going :)

Two weeks later and the day had finally come for Mae to spend her first day at the childcare. Cathy trailed behind Anne and Lizzie as the toddler got signed into her class, and with a quick hug for her Mother and Cathy, and a soft kiss on the head for Mae, Lizzie was gone. 

“You good?” Anne questioned as they headed down the hall to the Babies room. Cathy shook her head. 

Anne wrapped a comforting arm around her. 

“It will be okay.” She whispered as they reached the desk, Cass, the elderly woman from the sign on day, greeting them cheerfully.

“Good morning ladies.” She smiled. Cathy gave her a small smile. 

“Good morning.” She replied.

“Dropping the little one off? She’s finally old enough huh?” Cass questioned and Cathy nodded. 

“Yes she is.” She glanced down at Mae. 

“What was the last name again dear?” Cass asked, pulling out a sheet of paper. 

“Parr.” Cathy replied. Cass scanned the sheet before nodding. 

“Here she is, Mae Parr. Okay, I can register people that can sign her in and out. You can add or remove people at any time. Who would you like to add?” Cass smiled at her. 

“Other than myself, probably just my girlfriend for now.” Cathy told her. Cass nodded, turning her attention to Anne, who was playing with a pom pom that was attached to a string hanging from the roof. 

“Is this her?” Cass asked with a grin. Cathy nodded. Anne looked over, smiling when she realised they were watching her. 

“What?” She questioned. Cathy smiled. 

“We’re adding you onto the list of people who can drop off and pick up Mae.” She said and Anne grinned. 

“Are you able to fill this out please?” Cass handed Anne a piece of paper and she filled it out quickly, letting Cathy sign where she needed to, before handing it back to Cass. The elderly woman checked the details before smiling. 

“Okay, we’re all good. You can sign her in and she’s good to go.” She said, and Cathy bit her lip as she quickly signed Mae in. 

“Be good my darling, I love you.” She whispered to the baby, kissing her head softly. Anne lent down, placing a gentle kiss on Mae’s hair, before stepping back. 

Cathy hesitated, before handing Mae to Cass, along with Mae’s nappy bag. Sensing her hesitation Cass smiled reassuringly. 

“She’ll be fine Mum, no need to worry.” She said, and Cathy nodded softly. 

“Cath we have to get to class.” Anne said gently. “We’ll be picking her up before you know it.” 

With one last goodbye Cathy allowed Anne to lead her outside, struggling to fight the tears that were quickly filling her eyes. 

Anne glanced at her before stopping, pulling her into a hug. Cathy melted into the hug, letting a few tears escape into Anne’s shoulder. 

“You’re fine babe, she’s being looked after and she’ll be back with you in no time.” Anne comforted, her hand rubbing Cathy’s back gently. Cathy nodded, sniffling slightly, before pulling away. 

“Sorry.” She apologised. Anne shook her head, brushing a stray tear away. 

“You don’t need to apologise, it’s completely fine and very normal that you feel this way.” She said, before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Cathy’s lips. When she pulled away she smiled. 

“You good?” She checked, and Cathy took a deep breath before nodding. Anne grinned. 

“Good, now let’s get to class so you can get back to Mae quicker.” She said and Cathy smiled. She grabbed Anne’s hand, linking their fingers together as they began to walk to where they met their friends. 

“Thank you.” Cathy said softly as they approached Vicki, Maggie and Grace who were waiting between the buildings. 

“That’s what girlfriends are for.” Anne grinned, and Cathy’s heart skipped a beat at the reminder that Anne was her girlfriend. 

“About time.” Maggie teased when they reached the trio. “We were about to declare you missing.”

Anne giggled. 

“Fuck off, we’re five minutes late.” She retaliated. “We’ll just walk a bit faster.” 

“No time to stand around then.” Grace said, glancing at Cathy. “You ready?”

Cathy nodded, turning to Anne and kissing her softly before pulling away. Anne squeezed her hand.

“Remember, It’s only two hours, she’ll be okay. Don’t stress about her.” Anne reminded her. Cathy nodded, and with a quick goodbye the group split for their classes. 

Cathy and Grace headed up the stairs to their class silently, not speaking until they had taken a seat at the table they had unofficially claimed. Cathy pulled her notebook out, before turning to Grace. 

“Sorry it’s my first time leaving Mae at the childcare, I didn’t realise it would be so scary.” She apologised. Grace smiled. 

“No worries. What about it scares you? Maybe talking about it might help?” She asked.

“What if they don’t look after her right?” Cathy replied. Grace laughed. 

“Cathy that’s what they’re trained to do.” She said, grinning. 

“Okay but what if the other babies don’t like her?” Cathy retaliated. 

“They’re babies.” Grace gave her a look and Cathy couldn’t help but giggle.

“I guess I don’t really know why it’s so scary. The girls that we live with have been really good with helping me spend time away from Mae. Before I started here I’d never left her before. And even though I’ve left her a couple of times now to go out with Anne, it’s still hard to do.” Cathy admitted. 

“Trust me Cathy, she’ll be perfectly fine. And if any of those babies don’t like her, let me know and I’ll get Vicki to beat them up.” Grace joked. 

Cathy grinned as the lesson started. Grace and Anne were right, there was nothing to worry about. Mae would be perfectly fine. 

Later that night Cathy was curled up in bed. She had finished a writing task for her creative writing class, and had submitted it easily, so it was finally time for her to catch up on some well earned sleep after getting Mae settled. 

She had barely shut her eyes when her phone dinged from its spot on her bedside table. Sighing slightly she rolled over to see who had texted her. 

She rolled her eyes when she read the notification. Snapchat from ThatBoleynBitch. Of course. She unlocked her phone and opened up snapchat, clicking her chat with Anne and reading her messages. 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- pssst

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- cathyyyyyyy

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- are you awake

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- i want ice cream

 **GoldStarParr** \- anne

 **GoldStarParr** \- it’s 2am

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- so? ice cream has no time limit

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- wanna come to the store?

 **GoldStarParr** \- where will you find ice cream at 2am?

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- the convenience store that’s open 24/7?

 **GoldStarParr** \- i can’t leave mae

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- bring her 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- i’ll bring liz, she’s awake too

 **GoldStarParr** \- do i even want to know why your 3 year old is still up at 2am?

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- cause we’re watching harry potter?

 **GoldStarParr** \- she’s 3 anne

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- never too early to introduce her to harry potter

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- you want ice cream or no?

 **GoldStarParr** \- … 

**GoldStarParr** \- yes

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- hell yeah see you in 5 x

 **GoldStarParr** \- you’re the worst

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- lol you don’t really mean that 

**GoldStarParr** \- i do

 **ThatBoleynBitch** \- if you meant that you wouldn’t have agreed to come with me

 **GoldStarParr** \- … 

**ThatBoleynBitch** \- unlock your door

Cathy climbed out of her bed, unlocking the door quickly and opening it. Anne grinned at her, Lizzie on her hip. 

“Shall we get some ice cream?” Anne sung. Cathy tried to hide her smile as she turned away to pick up Mae from her bassinet. She grabbed Mae’s nappy bag with her spare hand and turned back to Anne. 

“I’m wearing my pyjamas and slippers.” She told her. Anne laughed. 

“So am I babe, we’re making a statement.” She replied. 

"A statement?" Cathy repeated. Anne nodded. 

"Yep. That we don't give a fuck about societal expectations, and if we want to get ice cream at 2am in our pyjamas then we will get fucking ice cream at 2am in our pyjamas." She grinned, before turning around and heading down the hallway, not even waiting to see if Cathy was following. Cathy shook her head, flicking her bedroom door shut before following Anne downstairs. 

They headed straight out the front door, and after quickly transferring Mae’s car seat into Anne’s car they pulled out of the driveway and off campus. 

“Maybe we should invest in car seats for the girls for each other's cars… so we don’t have to transfer them between cars all the time.” Anne suggested casually as they headed along the road into town. Cathy felt her heart skip a beat. 

“Yeah you think?” She asked, trying to keep her voice calm. Getting a car seat for Lizzie, and Anne one for Mae just made their relationship feel more permanent. 

“Yeah I reckon it’s a good idea.” Anne replied, her eyes never leaving the road. From the backseat Mae stirred, whimpering slightly. 

“Shh Mae we get ice cream.” Lizzie said, reaching out and patting Mae’s stomach. Mae squirmed, letting out a single cry. 

“It’s okay my darling. Mama’s here.” Cathy spoke, hoping that her voice would calm the baby. 

“Is okay Mae-Mae.” Lizzie agreed. Mae cried out again as they pulled into the main street of the town. Anne pulled the car into a parking spot outside of the convenience store and Cathy wasted no time jumping out of the car and going to Mae, lifting the crying baby into her arms. 

“Mama’s got you, it’s okay.” Cathy soothed, bouncing slightly. Anne opened the other door, unclipping Lizzie and helping her out of the car before grabbing Mae’s nappy bag out for Cathy.

After a moment of soothing words and bouncing Mae calmed down and Cathy turned to Anne. 

“Should we go in?” She asked. Anne nodded and after checking that the car was locked the four of them headed inside. 

Lizzie grabbed onto Cathy’s free hand and Cathy looked down at the toddler. 

“I walk with you.” Lizzie told her, and Cathy smiled. 

“I see how it is.” Anne pouted. “I suggest ice cream and make this whole thing happen and then I get dumped for my girlfriend.” 

Lizzie giggled, poking her tongue out at Anne who pretended to cry. Lizzie giggled louder, shaking her head as she looked up at Cathy. 

“Mama’s silly.” She laughed. Cathy grinned. 

“Yeah she is.” She replied, smiling at Anne, her heart fluttering when the girl gave her a cheeky grin in return. 

They reached the freezers at the back of the store and quickly located the ice cream. 

“What should we get?” Anne questioned, peering into the freezer. 

“Rainbow!” Lizzie exclaimed. 

“What do you like babe?” Anne turned to Cathy. 

“I’m good with anything. Whatever Liz wants.” Cathy replied. 

“Rainbow.” Lizzie repeated. Anne pulled open the freezer door, grabbing the tub of rainbow ice cream, and a second tub, this time chocolate.

“Who said we had to get just one?” She said, grinning. Cathy couldn’t help but smile. 

“You’re such a bad influence on me.” She faked annoyance and Anne giggled. 

“I know.” She replied. “Now do we need to buy waffle cones too?” 

“Cones!” Lizzie squealed with excitement. 

“Apparently so.” 

They arrived home soon enough, sneaking upstairs to Cathy’s room where they decided to curl up on the bed while Anne spooned the ice cream into cones. 

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Cathy questioned as she got Mae settled into her bassinet, trying not to wake the sleeping baby. She placed a soft kiss on Mae’s head and whispered a soft “I love you” before standing up and heading over to the bed. 

“Sounds good. Not Harry Potter though, we just finished Chamber of Secrets and the big s-n-a-k-e was a bit too s-c-a-r-y.” Anne replied, spelling out the words so that Lizzie couldn’t understand. “How about a Disney movie?” 

“Disney sounds amazing. Can you pass me the remote?” Cathy said, and Anne handed her the TV remote. 

“What do you wanna watch Liz?” Cathy asked, flicking the TV on to Disney Plus. 

“Moana!” Lizzie replied quickly. Cathy grinned. 

“Moana it is then.” She said, finding the movie and turning it on before placing the remote onto her bedside table. 

Anne handed her a cone of chocolate ice cream and she grinned, thanking the older girl. Anne winked in response before climbing out of bed to take the ice cream tubs down to the freezer, returning a few moments later with just a cone with two scoops of ice cream, one of each flavour, in her hands. 

She climbed back onto the bed, snuggling into Cathy’s side and Cathy turned her head, placing a soft kiss on Anne’s hair. 

“This was a good idea.” Cathy decided, and Anne grinned. 

“Of course it was, it was an Anne Boleyn idea.” 

And by the time their ice cream was finished and the movie was over, Lizzie was fast asleep across the end of the bed, and Anne and Cathy were too exhausted to even turn the TV off.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the girls go to their uni ball and have a bit of fun and a heart to heart afterwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: swearing, sexual references, sexual content, discussion of miscarriages, discussion of past trauma
> 
> set 1 month after the last chapter :)
> 
> okay so the end of this chapter gets pretty heavy so please be warned, and theres also sexual content so if you don't feel comfortable with this things please do not read 
> 
> other than that this might be one of my favourite chapters, we get to learn a bit more about cathy and anne and some fun things happen! 
> 
> also for the queens outfits for the uni ball i was picturing the og west end cast at the oliviers red carpet in 2019 if that helps in any way, but feel free to imagine whatever you want 
> 
> i've also finished my prac so look forward to regular updates again! 
> 
> as always if you enjoyed this please leave a comment to let me know :) 
> 
> enjoy!

Time passed quickly when you were happy, Cathy soon discovered. It felt like only yesterday she had walked through the front door of an unfamiliar house and had met her housemates for the first time. In reality it had been two months since then, and the unfamiliar girls she had met that day had quickly become her sisters. 

It also meant that it had been a month and a half since she had asked Anne to be her girlfriend. Which was insane to think about, that in so little time she had developed as strong feelings as she had towards the older girl. 

Cathy smiled at the thought of Anne, and her reflection grinned back at her. She had just finished getting ready to head to the uni ball, a tradition at their university where all first year students were invited to a nice dinner in hopes that they would be able to mingle and make friends. 

“Cathy, Anne, are you almost ready? The babysitter is here so we can leave whenever you’re done.” Jane’s voice called up the stairs, breaking Cathy out of her thoughts. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time. She couldn’t remember the last time she had dressed up in fancy clothes and had done her hair and makeup this nicely, it was definitely before she had Mae, maybe even before she had fallen pregnant. But looking in the mirror she decided that she had to dress up more often. 

“Coming.” Cathy called back, grabbing her clutch off the bed and picking up Mae out of her bassinet, the 18 week old smiling and grabbing a chunk of her mother’s curls. 

“What do you think Mae? Does Mama look pretty?” She asked. Mae tried to pull the curls into her mouth, and Cathy pulled them back with a giggle. 

“Mama looks fucking stunning.” Cathy looked behind her to find Anne standing there, a wide grin on her face. Cathy let her eyes wander down Anne’s body. She was wearing an emerald green dress that sat off her shoulders and tied at her waist. 

“Wow.” She managed to get out. Anne giggled. 

“I could say the same thing.” She said, stepping into the room and pulling Cathy in to kiss her gently, careful not to squash Mae or smudge either of their lipstick. 

“It’s gonna be so hard to keep my hands off you tonight.” Anne whispered, and Cathy’s stomach fluttered. Cathy took a step back. 

“We need to go downstairs before it’s too late.” She grinned slightly, knowing that Anne knew exactly what she was implying. Anne held out her hand and Cathy took it, and together they headed downstairs, hand in hand. 

“Wow look at you two.” Anna whistled as they walked into the living room where everyone was waiting.

“You both look gorgeous.” Catalina complimented. 

“So do you guys.” Cathy replied, glancing around at her housemates who were all dressed to the nines. 

“This is Joan from my literacy class. She’s here to watch the kids.” Jane introduced the pale haired girl who was standing next to her. Joan waved. 

“As I said Joan, instructions are in the kitchen.” Jane told the girl, who nodded. Jane turned her attention to Cathy.

“Cathy, hand over Mae. She’ll be fine here.” She instructed. 

“I promise I’ll take good care of her.” Joan assured. Cathy nodded, placing a soft kiss on Mae’s head. 

“Be good my darling, I love you.” She whispered, before handing Mae to Joan. Mae whimpered slightly but didn’t cry. Lizzie looked up from her blocks. 

“I come too Mama?” She asked. Anne shook her head, kneeling down next to the three year old.

“You’re gonna stay here and help Joan look after Mae, okay?” She told Lizzie, who thought about it for a second before nodding. 

“Okay Mama, love you.” She told Anne, who smiled. 

“Love you too baby.” She stood back up. 

“Okay everyone ready to go?” Catalina asked. They all nodded. “Great, let’s go have some fun.” 

They arrived at the sports club where the ball was being held and checked in straight away. 

“Table number six.” Kat said, checking the sign on the wall with the table allocations on it. 

“Just like our house number.” Jane smiled, leading the group into the main room. Feeling slightly overwhelmed Cathy grabbed onto Anne’s hand. Anne smiled, linking their fingers together. 

“You okay?” She whispered, just loud enough for Cathy to hear. Cathy nodded slightly. 

“There’s a lot of people here.” She replied. Anne squeezed her hand as they reached their table. 

“I promise I won’t leave your side.” She assured Cathy, running her thumb over the back of the younger girl’s hand. 

“Thank you.” Cathy whispered back as they settled into their seats, hers between Anne and Catalina.

Jane grabbed the pile of menus from the middle of the table and passed them around. Cathy accepted hers with a smile, flicking open to the first page to see what food was on offer. 

“Anyone down for a round of shots?” Anne joked. Anna grinned. 

“I’m in.” She said. 

“Me too.” Kat chimed in. Cathy shrugged. 

“I guess I’ll take one too.” She decided. 

“No thanks.” Catalina declined. Jane hesitated before giving them a small smile. 

“Fine, sure, why not.” She said, receiving a cheer from Anne and Anna. 

“We’ll go get them.” Anne said, standing up and motioning for Cathy to stand too. Cathy grinned, standing up and taking Anne’s hand, letting her lead her over to the bar in the corner. 

Once they obtained the shots they headed back to the table, handing them out. 

“To our little family and a good night.” Jane toasted. They clinked their shot glasses, Catalina clinking her water glass, before doing the shots quickly, all wincing slightly at the burn. 

“So.” Jane spoke once their glasses were on the table. “Shall we order?” 

The meal went well with the girls exchanging small talk about their time at the university, their lives before and more, taking the time away from their kids to get to know each other away from the label of single mother, foreign student and teenager.

“So, siblings?” Catalina questioned. “I have three older sisters and an older brother.” 

“I have three siblings, two sisters and a brother.” Anna said. 

“I only have two.” Cathy chimed in. “A sister and a brother.” 

“I’ve got the same as Cathy, a sister and a brother.” Anne spoke. Kat laughed. 

“Imagine having small families. I’m one of eleven kids. My mother had five kids with her first husband, and then had six, including me, with my father. Five boys, six girls.” She told the group. 

“Where do you come in that?” Catalina questioned. 

“Second youngest. I have a younger sister but the rest are all older.” Kat replied. 

“I also have a big family.” Jane spoke up. “I have nine siblings. Six boys, four girls. So I feel your pain Kitty.” 

“That’s insane. You guys must have so many fun sibling stories.” Anna shook her head in disbelief. 

“One time me and a couple of my brothers decided to convince our mum that school was cancelled for the rest of the week.” Jane laughed at the memory. 

“What happened?” Catalina questioned. 

Jane began to tell the story but Cathy wasn’t listening. 

Anne’s hand was on her thigh and the weight of the hand was all she could focus on. She smiled as the other girls laughed at something Jane had said. Anne rested her head on Cathy’s shoulder. 

“You really do look gorgeous tonight.” She whispered, just loud enough for Cathy to hear. “Actually, gorgeous might not even be a strong enough word for how you look. You look fucking stunning.” 

Cathy bit her lip as Anne’s hand travelled further up her thigh, sending her stomach into a cloud of butterflies. 

“I need to use the bathroom.” Cathy said quickly, jumping up from the table and grabbing Anne’s hand to pull her up too. 

“Wait, why does Anne need to go with you?” Kat asked, and Anna shot Cathy a knowing look.

“Um... my dress is really hard to get off?” Cathy tried, biting her lip in hopes that the other girls would buy it. 

“That’s not the only thing that’s gonna get off.” Anna muttered, and Jane choked on a mouthful of wine. 

“Anna!” She reprimanded. 

“Oh come on, we all know it’s true.” Anna defended. Cathy felt four sets of eyes on her and she looked at the ground to avoid catching anyone’s eye. 

“Don’t listen to them Cath, let’s go pee.” Anne came to her rescue, pulling her away from the table. 

“Sorry.” Cathy said quietly. Anne shook her head, leading Cathy into the bathroom. 

“Don’t apologise.” 

Now that they were alone the familiar flutter returned to Cathy’s stomach, and she looked up at Anne, who swallowed when she saw the way Cathy was looking at her. 

“Anna was right.” Cathy said, taking a step closer to Anne, the tequila shots that they had done earlier fueling her bravery. 

“Right about what?” Anne asked. Cathy scoffed. 

“You know exactly what.” She replied, pinning Anne against the wall. “My dress isn’t the only thing that’s going to get off.” 

There was a moment of still before their lips connected in a rush of desire and passion, their teeth knocking together slightly in their haste to kiss. Something in the back of Cathy’s head told her that this wasn’t a good idea, someone could walk in at any moment and here they were, so worked up that they were grinding on each other in a public bathroom at an official university event.

Cathy moaned as Anne tugged on her hair. 

“Annie.” She managed to get out between kisses. 

“Hmm?” Anne replied, her lips still connected to Cathy’s. Cathy pulled back.

“I need you so bad.” She admitted. Anne looked flustered. 

“How?” She replied eventually. Cathy glanced towards one of the stalls. Anne raised an eyebrow. 

“Really?” She questioned. Cathy shrugged. 

“Do we have any other option?” 

“Technically the dinner is over. We go back to the table and say that you don’t feel well, Jane and Lina go into full mum mode and rush us all home and bam.” Anne suggested. Cathy thought about it for a moment. 

“Okay let’s give it a try. And if not then we have an excuse to come back to the bathroom.” She agreed. 

“Catherine Parr you horny bitch.” Anne laughed. 

“Like you’re not horny right now.” Cathy bit back. Anne grinned. 

“Guilty. But in my defence your tits look amazing in that dress.” 

“Push up nursing bras will do that to you.” Cathy grinned, and realisation struck her.

“Anne, I know exactly what to say to get us home.” She said quickly. 

“Oh yeah?” Anne asked. Cathy nodded, before letting her expression change to a downcast look. 

“I’m just having a really hard time being away from Mae right now, it’s been hours…” She acted and Anne’s eyes lit up. 

“That’s perfect.” She grinned. “God I love you.” 

The second the words were out of her mouth she froze, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock. 

Cathy stared at her. 

“You love me?” She asked quietly. Anne was still for a moment before nodding. 

“Uh yeah I do… I was gonna tell you in a different way I swear. And you don’t have to say it back, please don’t feel pressured to, I know we’ve only been together a month and a half.” She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry Ca-” 

Cathy cut her off by crashing their lips together, kissing Anne hard enough to show all of her feelings. They broke apart, breathless, and Cathy pressed her head against Anne’s. 

“I love you too.” She replied. Anne looked up, as if she didn’t quite believe the words that had come out of Cathy’s mouth. 

“You do?” She asked. Cathy nodded. 

“I do. I love you Anne Boleyn. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in the whole world.” She said, pausing. “Except Mae of course.” 

Anne smiled widely, throwing her arms around Cathy. 

“Now we really do need to get home and fuck.” Anne giggled, and Cathy couldn’t help but join in. 

“We should go tell the others that we have to go.” Anne said, pushing herself off the wall. Cathy nodded, checking in the mirror to make sure they didn’t look like they’d been making out. Once they were sure they looked normal they headed to the door and began the trip back to the table. 

“Is everything okay? You guys were gone a while.” Catalina asked once they arrived back at the table, shooting Cathy a concerned look. 

“Just had a moment of missing Mae sorry.” Cathy replied, fiddling with her fingers. Sympathy covered Jane and Catalina’s features. 

“Oh honey, let’s get you home to her then.” Jane suggested, already standing up. 

“We know how hard it is mija.” Catalina added, rubbing Cathy’s arm in a comforting way. Kat and Anna also stood up, the latter eyeing Anne and Cathy as she quickly downed the last of her wine, clearly not convinced by the story, but she wasn’t about to call them out in front of Jane and Catalina.

The group headed out, Catalina hopping into the driver’s seat of the car since she had become the designated driver after not doing shots. 

And before Cathy knew it she was home and Mae was being placed back into her arms, and although it had been a lie that she wanted to get home to Mae, having her baby girl in her arms was a relief. Anne wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning in to whisper in her ear. 

“We’ll have to wait for the others to go to bed. Jane, Catalina and Kat are going now, and Anna’s going to her room. I’m gonna have a shower, which you’re welcome to join.” She whispered. 

Cathy thought for a moment. 

“What about a bath?” She murmured, just loud enough for Anne to hear. Anne grinned. 

“A bath it is.” She replied quietly. “I’ll see you upstairs.” 

Stepping back she smiled at Cathy. 

“I love you.” She winked, before picking a sleeping Lizzie up off the couch and taking the three year old upstairs. Catalina smiled. 

“I love you, huh?” She questioned, and Cathy blushed slightly. 

“Yeah.” She replied. Catalina laughed. 

“How sweet. I’m really happy for you two.” She told Cathy. 

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Cathy questioned. Catalina shrugged.

“Do you think it’s too soon?” She asked. Cathy shook her head. 

“No.” She answered. 

“Then that’s all that matters.” Catalina said, rubbing her arm gently. “Goodnight mija.” 

“Night Lina.” Cathy replied. Catalina left the room, leaving Cathy and Mae alone. 

“I missed you tonight my darling.” Cathy whispered to the sleeping baby as she headed upstairs. She reached her room quickly, and placed Mae into her bassinet, wrapping her in her blanket. She kicked off her heels before grabbing the baby monitor, flicking it on, and picking up a hoodie which she was pretty sure belonged to Anne, and a pair of sleep shorts, before heading across the hall, tapping on the bathroom door gently. 

“Annie?” She called softly. 

“It’s unlocked.” Anne’s voice came from inside the bathroom. Cathy opened the door, walking into the bathroom and shutting and locking the door behind her. She placed her pyjamas and the baby monitor down on the cabinet, before turning to a half naked Anne, who handed her a glass of wine. 

“So…” Cathy began, noticing that Anne had already filled the bath with water, bubbles and what looked like a sparkling blue bath bomb. 

“So…” Anne mimicked. “Ever been eaten out in a bath before?” 

Cathy choked on her wine. 

“Um well… I’ve actually never been eaten out at all?” She admitted shyly. 

“Well fuck, I know what we’re doing tonight.” Anne ran a finger down Cathy’s arm. “Can I help you get undressed?” 

“Even if you hadn’t offered, I kinda can’t get out of this dress alone. I wasn’t lying earlier.” Cathy grinned slightly. 

“Oh.” Anne giggled. “Still though.” 

She undid the zip slowly, her fingers ghosting down Cathy’s back causing Cathy to shiver slightly. She helped Cathy step out of her dress, placing it gently across the closed toilet on top of her own dress. 

“My makeup.” Cathy said, noticing that Anne had already wiped hers off. 

Anne nodded, stepping back to let Cathy clean her makeup off and tie her hair up so that it wouldn’t get wet. 

When she was done Cathy turned back to Anne shyly. Anne stepped forward again, taking Cathy’s bra and underwear off, pressing gentle kisses to the tops of her breasts. She stepped away again, removing her own underwear, and Cathy gave her a shy smile. 

“Now what?” She questioned. Anne put her hand in the bath. 

“Water’s too hot still.” She observed, her eyes scanning the edge of the bath. “Sit up there.” 

She pointed to a ledge next to the bath, and Cathy did as she was told. Anne grinned. 

“So obedient.” She teased. Cathy rolled her eyes, blushing slightly. 

“Shut up.” She muttered. Anne knelt down in front of her

Anne ran a finger down Cathy’s inner thigh and Cathy moaned involuntarily, her eyes widening at the sound. 

“Wow and I haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet. Spread your legs.” Cathy did as she said and Anne licked her lips. She moved closer, pressing light kisses along Cathy’s inner thighs. 

“Oh my god Anne.” Cathy gasped. Anne pulled back. 

“Shh you’ll wake the others.” She scolded gently, before returning to her position between Cathy’s legs. Her teeth grazed Cathy’s thighs and Cathy bit back a moan. 

“Fuck you’re so wet for me.” Anne muttered, and with a quick glance up at Cathy, she buried her face between Cathy’s legs, her tongue lapping at Cathy’s clit. 

“Oh my god.” Cathy moaned, her eyes rolling back at the pleasure. “How are you so good at this?” 

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Anne spoke without moving away, and the vibration sent a shudder through Cathy’s body. 

“Fuck.” She muttered as Anne went back to work sucking and nibbling at her clit. Anne moved slightly and suddenly Cathy felt Anne’s tongue inside her, flicking at a consistent rhythm. 

Cathy reached out, grabbing a handful of Anne’s hair, trying to keep her moans quiet enough that no one would hear. 

Eventually she could feel the familiar sensation of an orgasm rapidly approaching. 

“Nan I’m close.” She warned, somewhat breathlessly. Anne hummed in response, the vibration causing Cathy to cry out in pleasure, slightly louder than she probably should have. 

“You can cum baby.” Anne murmured, and Cathy let go with a loud moan and a gasp of Anne’s name. 

After a moment Anne pulled away from her with a grin. 

“So, you liked that huh?” She questioned. Cathy nodded, and gave her a soft smile. 

“Can I.. try? On you?” Cathy asked hesitantly. 

“You want to eat me out?” Anne clarified. Cathy nodded again. 

“Well I’m not going to say no.” Anne grinned. “Want me to walk you through it? Or do you think you’ve got it?” 

“I think I can do it.” Cathy decided after a moment of thinking. “Switch places?” 

Anne nodded and stood up, waiting for Cathy to stand before taking her place on the edge of the bath as Cathy settled down in front of her. Cathy looked up at Anne and the older girl smiled, spreading her legs with a wink. 

Cathy hesitated for a second before mimicking Anne’s actions of kissing along her thighs. Anne shivered under her touch. Gaining some confidence from Anne’s reaction Cathy paused, sucking and nibbling on Anne’s thigh to leave marks that would be difficult to cover if Anne wanted to wear shorts any time soon. 

“Jesus Cathy.” Anne groaned. Cathy grinned

“I haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet.” She mimicked, and Anne flipped her off. 

Cathy hesitated before leaning in and letting her tongue graze Anne’s clit, causing the older girl to gasp. 

“Don’t be a tease Cath.” Anne groaned, as Cathy slowly began to eat her out, savouring the bittersweet taste of her wetness. 

Cathy giggled slightly and Anne moaned, threading her fingers through Cathy’s curls. 

And before Cathy knew it Anne was cumming on her tongue and she was already looking forward to the next time she got to eat Anne out. 

She stood up slowly and Anne smiled, pulling her in and kissing her. 

“How did I do?” Cathy questioned once they separated. Anne grinned.

“Perfectly.” She replied, hopping off the ledge to test the water temperature. “And so is the water… Perfect temperature I mean.” 

She stood up straight, grinning at Cathy. 

“Relaxing time?” She asked, as Cathy picked up their wine glasses again. Cathy nodded. 

“Relaxing time.” She agreed. 

It was about an hour later when Cathy and Anne finally emerged from the bathroom, wine finished and both content as could be. 

“Can we sleep together tonight?” Cathy questioned, as Anne hovered in the doorway of her bedroom, not quite ready to say goodnight. Anne grinned cheekily. 

“Did we not already do that?” She questioned. Cathy rolled her eyes as she hung her dress up where she could find it easily in the morning to send it off to be cleaned with the rest of the dresses. 

“I mean actually sleep.” Cathy said, turning her attention back to Anne. 

“Oh, of course.” Anne agreed quickly. Cathy thought for a moment. 

“Your room? We can take Mae’s bassinet up with us?” She suggested. Anne nodded. 

“Sounds good babes.” 

Cathy walked over to the bassinet, picking Mae up gently to avoid waking her. Anne picked the bassinet up easily. 

“Do you have everything?” Anne questioned. Cathy glanced around the room quickly before nodding. 

They headed out of Cathy’s room and up the stairs to Anne’s, shutting the attic door behind them. Anne placed Mae’s bassinet down between Lizzie’s bed, where the toddler was fast asleep, and Anne’s bed. Cathy placed Mae down gently and she stirred, beginning to cry. 

“Shh my darling.” Cathy picked the back up again, bouncing her to soothe the baby. “Nan can you go get a bottle from the fridge please?”

Anne nodded, leaving the room quickly. 

“Mae sad?” Lizzie’s voice came and Cathy looked over to find the three year old sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. 

“Just a little bit.” Cathy replied. 

“I help?” Lizzie asked. Cathy thought for a moment before nodding. She sat down on Anne’s bed and Lizzie climbed up onto the bed, settling herself into Cathy’s lap. Cathy placed a still crying Mae into Lizzie’s arms and the three year old took Mae’s hand. 

“Is okay Mae.” Lizzie soothed, before looking up at Cathy. “Sing?” 

“You think we should sing to her?” Cathy asked and Lizzie nodded. Cathy smiled before beginning to sing softly, grinning to herself when Mae’s cries subsided to a soft whimper. Lizzie snuggled her head into Cathy’s chest, and when Cathy looked down she realised that the three year old had fallen asleep again. 

Anne re-entered the room, smiling at the scene in front of her. Cathy looked up. 

“Big sister of the year wanted to help.” She said with a smile. Anne sat down on the bed, handing Cathy the bottle, watching as Mae hungrily began to drink. 

“It’s sweet how much she loves Mae. I was worried about bringing her here and having kids younger than her cause she’s always been the baby. The only family member I’m still close with is my older brother and he and his fiance can’t have kids, so they spoil Liz rotten, and of course I let her do whatever she wants cause she’s my baby girl. I was concerned that she wouldn’t cope with not being the baby anymore, but thank god I was wrong.” Anne said, reaching out to rub Lizzie’s back. 

“She’s a natural big sister.” Cathy grinned. 

“And I didn’t even have to go through another pregnancy.” Anne giggled. They fell silent, the only sounds coming from Mae drinking her bottle. 

“What I’m about to tell you, I’ve never told anyone before. Not even Kitty.” Anne spoke, breaking the silence. “You can’t tell a soul.” 

“I promise.” Cathy replied. Anne was silent for a moment, and Cathy reached out her spare hand, linking it with Anne’s and giving it a soft squeeze to reassure her. Finally Anne took a deep breath. 

“After I had Lizzie there was a time when I was just really… struggling with life. Everyone always made sure to remind me that I was a fuck up and a slut because I was a single mum, you know the classic no one will ever want you speech. So I would go out at night and get so fucking drunk and just… find someone that wanted me. Live up to the slut label since everyone already called me one I guess.” She paused. 

“Long story short, I went home with this guy one night, hooked up with him and then a few weeks later, no period. And I was like fuck here we go again, everyone already thinks I’m a fucked up whore, so I didn’t tell anyone. I went to the doctor and they confirmed I was pregnant. I still didn’t tell anyone, and then a few weeks later I had a miscarriage.” She began to cry and Cathy moved to pull her closer, trying not to disturb Mae and Lizzie. 

“That must have been so hard for you.” She whispered softly. “You’re so strong Anne.” 

“Three.” Anne replied through her tears. “I had three miscarriages.” Cathy’s heart stopped for a moment. 

“Oh my god Anne.” She said. Anne gave her a weak smile. 

“Yep…” She whispered. “So now you know.” 

“I’m so sorry.” Cathy replied, her voice just as low. She wiped Anne’s tears away, pressing a soft kiss to the older girl’s lips before pausing for a moment. 

“I almost died having Mae.” She told Anne softly. Anne looked up at her. 

“What happened?” She asked. Cathy was silent, placing Mae’s now empty bottle onto the bedside table. Anne sat up slightly, and reached for Mae, Cathy letting her take the baby to burp. 

“I told you my family weren’t exactly impressed when I told them I was pregnant, right?” Cathy asked. Anne nodded. 

“I kind of lied. Well, not really. I just didn’t give you the whole story. They weren’t just unimpressed, my parents actually disowned me.” She admitted. “It wasn’t just Mae. They were pissed that I wouldn’t consider an abortion, and they told me that no man would want me with a baby. And my little sister decides to chime in telling my parents that I’m bi and that she saw me kissing a girl. And that was it. They kicked me out and disowned me on the spot. I went to stay with my Nanna for a bit until I could find somewhere to live. And I moved just before Mae was born.” 

She stopped. Anne frowned slightly at the pause. 

“Off topic, but would you like to try skin to skin with Mae? It might make you feel a bit better. It always helps me.” Cathy questioned. Anne nodded quickly, a soft smile on her face. 

“Want me to put Lizzie back to bed first?” Anne questioned. Cathy shook her head.

“She’s fine. Here, give me Mae and take your shirt off.” She instructed and Anne obeyed, handing the baby back to her mother before pulling her pyjama shirt off, while Cathy gently undressed Mae so that the baby was left in just her nappy. 

“Do I need my bra off too?” Anne questioned once her shirt was off. 

“It’s up to you.” Cathy replied, and Anne thought for a moment before taking it off and sitting back down on the bed. Cathy handed her Mae and helped her get Mae settled before putting the blanket over them. 

“I can feel her heartbeat.” Anne giggled. Cathy smiled at her. 

“Want me to finish my story? Or are we past the sad moment?” She questioned. Anne shook her head. 

“Please keep going.” She insisted. Cathy nodded. 

“So I had only just moved into the apartment I was renting until I was able to move here, and I was alone, it was late at night and I was just feeling really crappy. So I decided to try to sleep it off, so I got into bed and was tossing and turning for hours. I finally drifted off and woke up in so much pain, so I called my Nanna and she came over and she figured out pretty quickly that I was in labour. So Nanna drove me to the hospital and when we got there they discovered that Mae was literally about to come, so they wheeled me into a room and within a few minutes she was born.” She paused, taking a breath.

“Everything was fine for a bit but then I just had this really bad pain in my stomach so I called for a nurse and they came in and were really worried, and then I blacked out and the next thing I remember is the next morning waking up to the nurses telling me that I had been bleeding a ton and my body had gone into shock, and that they were so glad I didn’t die cause they were convinced I would. So yeah… never gonna do that again.” Cathy finished. 

“Wow.” Anne whispered. “That’s so scary.” Cathy nodded. 

“Yeah. I can’t even imagine what would have happened to Mae if I had died. Probably would have been put up for adoption since there’s no way my family would have taken her and even though my Nanna is amazing there's no way she would be able to raise a newborn on her own. Anyways can we talk about something nicer?” Cathy said. Anne nodded. 

“Tell me about your Nanna.” She said. Cathy smiled. 

“She’s amazing. Mae is named after her. She’d love you, I just know it. She was the first person I ever came out to, and whenever I saw her she would always tell me about some cute girl she had seen somewhere.” She told Anne, who smiled softly. 

“I’d love to meet her.” She said with a yawn. Cathy giggled. 

“Sleep time?” She questioned. Anne nodded. Cathy stood up gently, lifting Lizzie with her and placing the three year old back in her own bed. She turned back to Anne, taking Mae from her and redressing the baby before placing her in her bassinet. 

With both girls in their beds Cathy slid into Anne’s bed, curling into Anne’s side. 

“Goodnight.” Anne whispered. “I love you.” 

Cathy’s heart skipped a beat. 

“I love you too.” She replied. 

And before she knew it she was fast asleep, dreaming happily of a life with Anne and their little girls and the day that she would be able to introduce them to her Nanna.


End file.
